#this man single-handedly carrying his entire team’s defense

[ishouldnotbhere]

the build-up of barou’s king moment 😩 i know it’s just around the corner aaaaaa and how amazing of aiku’s flow to be activated by everyone’s individual plays and (almost) flow moments?? captain ought to show off before blue lock ends them (?) CANT WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK

AAAAAAH IKR omg I love how Barou just does not give a flying fuck what people think! Somehow I wish we could see the midfielders’ and strikers’ (Sae’s and Shidou’s) reactions to Blue Lock’s offenses??!

It’s weird because you would think Barou and Shidou would be similar in terms of their unpredictability and spontaneity, but Barou’s behavior actually seems to somehow contrast Shidou’s. Compared to how blatantly Barou barrels through others, dismisses their presences, and ignores their contributions to the team play, Shidou, weirdly enough, is much more… cooperative. It’s incomprehensible to even conceive of Shidou as a collaborative dude, but there’s evidence to demonstrate it. He butts heads with Rin, who is unwilling to acknowledge Isagi’s quick thinking on the field, because unlike Rin, Shidou truly enjoys good soccer. Unlike the others, who all have their own motives unrelated to soccer (Reo’s attachment to Nagi, Rin’s desire to outmatch his brother, even Kunigami’s goal to be a “hero”, etc.), Shidou’s interest is decidedly pure. Untainted. It’s just fundamentally, unabashedly, soccer. He loves the game fiercely. That’s all the reason he needs to play it.

Shidou just expresses his passion in a crude way (the whole “seed” and “womb” and “breeding” analogy). And yeah, it’s fucking weird, but it just goes to show Shidou basks in soccer at its core—a team-based sport in which the greater the individual talent, the more vibrant the outcome. And Shidou loves that. He acknowledges teammates who bring that dynamism to the game, who invigorate it, and it excites him even more to integrate it. His sexuality is soccer basically, lmao. I see him as the kind of person who’s willing to date anyone of any gender as long they’re good (as per his standards) at the sport. It’s why he’s more than happy to give Isagi the spotlight, back when he was in Blue Lock. It’s why he plays synergistically with Sae, and lets Sae take the lead, because he greatly admires Sae’s strategy and ability. Shidou really is quite animalistic and childlike in nature, but not in a bad way. His basest instincts are grounded in soccer. All someone needs to do is ignite or peak his curiosity, and he’ll be all over them.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever watched Hunter x Hunter, but Shidou sort of reminds me of Gon. Gon gets a lot of bad rep from the fandom, but what people forget is that Gon was literally just a child raised in isolation from the rest of the world. So his overtly extreme, violent reactions to traumatic events stems from the fact that his undeveloped, childhood insecurities, which had yet to mature, were now buttressed by incredible power that no child could understand, manage, or even ought to have. In the same way, Gon’s immediate attachment to new friends who match his level of talent arises from an essential lack of familial support throughout his growing years. While I’m not saying that Shidou actually had that sort of upbringing, his instantaneous bonds with players of similar capability, as well as his erratic mood swings between things which pique his interest and things which don’t, mirror that sort of childlike immaturity. But they’re not irrational. They can be explained (if not justified); they’re amoral, rather than immoral. It’s kind of sad, then, the way everyone treats Shidou as some sort of demon, when in fact his passion for soccer is the clearest out of everyone else’s.

Man, do I want Shidou’s backstory already.

Barou, on the other hand, is a beast of his own caliber. This guy is, weirdly enough, worse than Shidou because there’s no fucking possibility he’s going to play nice with anyone else on his team. I feel he truly embodies the spirit of “ego” Ego was trying to instill in Blue Lock. Barou’s connection to soccer is the precise opposite of Shidou’s; the other end of the spectrum: if Shidou’s is unadulterated (“soccer for soccer’s sake”), Barou’s is wholly selfish (“soccer for my sake”). Unlike Reo, Nagi, Kunigami, Isagi, Bachira, Rin, or literally anybody else, there was no sense of human attachment or feeling of personal insecurity that sparked Barou’s passion for soccer. His backstory proves that the literal reason Barou likes soccer was, well, he was just better than everybody else. I’m the King. I’m the only one who belongs, and all of you will bow. Which, of course, is not how soccer, or any team-based sport for that matter, works, and that’s why he’s going to come in clutch for Blue Lock. He’s a singularity, and he’s single-handedly going to rock the game off its course. The thing about experts going head-to-head is that experts know what the other might play. What is truly fearsome is the beginner, and the person who either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the rules. I, for one, am so excited to see this match unfold!

[wakaoujisenhime]

Reference material

Synopsis: While in Hyougo, looking for inspiration for your company’s upcoming fashion chain, you end up meeting some of the former Karasuno and Inarizaki volleyball team members with whom you sit together and recollect.

So how did this seemingly innocent get-together end up with you having former captain Kita and former Libero Nishinoya try out some thigh-flattering clothes?

tags/warnings: suggested Kita x reader x Nishinoya ✅ thigh appreciation/marking/biting ✅ some Kita in a skirt towards the end ✅

A/N: my first and slightly delayed contribution to The Church of Meian’s Thigh July collab! I originally planned to do this scenario for one of the boys but got swayed by the church’s babes to do both, so here it is! (੭˃ᴗ˂)੭ Hope you enjoy and please make sure to check everyone else’s delicious works out as well! ♥️

.wc 4.6k

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Your heart was thumping hard against your chest as you nervously fiddled with your fingers and looked around your living room. You were so skittish that even the smallest sound made you jump and fixate your vision towards the door of your guest room. After taking a deep breath you tried to let your thoughts wander away from the two men that were just beyond the door you were facing.

How did we even end up in this situation…?

Just this morning you’d arrived in Hyougo per your boss’ request to look for inspiration for your new fashion collection. You wandered for hours, observing farmers, workers, students, and whatnot until you decided to take a much-deserved lunch break, and since you were in the home country of the renowned Miya twins, what place was best suited for a short break than Onigiri Miya?

The moment you’d entered the small and humbly decorated shop, you were greeted by the owner himself and his former volleyball team’s captain Kita. While you exchanged the typical greetings with both men, the blond twin came down from the upper floor and, much to Osamu’s chagrin, joined in on your conversation. Just as you and Kita were about to leave and go back to your respective plans the front door was practically kicked open by a short young man and his two companions.

“Well, I’ll be damned…if it ain’t Karasuno’s libero, ace, and moral cheerleader, what’s got ya so far away from Tokyo?” asked Atsumu in a slightly condescending tone. But before anyone could even comment on that, Nishinoya, who most likely didn’t even hear what the man before him said, spread his arms out and happily suggested that you all stay together and recollect over some delicious onigiri. 

Thanks to everyone’s enthusiasm, you got roped into it as well and ended up being surrounded by several young men who happily jugged one beer after the other and argued about who gets to eat the last piece of meat. 

Fortunately for you, you weren’t the only one that had decided to keep their hands off of alcohol. Nishinoya and Kita had both preferred to stay sober in case something were to happen. 

The time flew by and before you’d noticed the group had started to disperse. Asahi, who was surprisingly sober enough to support Sugawara, had gotten up first, excusing himself and his friend, saying that they had to get up early tomorrow in order to catch their flight back to Tokyo. Minutes later Osamu decided to single-handedly put a stop to Atsumu’s flirtatious behavior to which you’d fallen prey to, so he simply threw his brother over his shoulder, apologized to you three, and asked you to simply turn the “OPEN” sign around when you left as he carried the wiggling man back upstairs. 

“Alright then…I think it’s time for me to leave as well” announced Kita with a small smile as he started preparing himself. With a firm nod, the young man next to him followed suit and you were about to do the same when an idea popped into your head.

“You two live quite far away, right?” you asked as you pointed your finger to Noya who nodded, telling you that the motel he stayed at was almost an hour away, then you directed your finger to the captain who confirmed that his house was situated at a very remote part of Hyougo.

“Then how about you guys stay over at my hotel room? It’s just a walk away from here and thanks to my boss it’s big enough to accommodate an entire volleyball team and its substitutes.”

Both boys couldn’t help but giggle at the metaphor you’d used and despite the small fear of inconveniencing you, they yielded eventually.

Everything was going smoothly at first, you brought them over, showed them around, discussed where they wanted to sleep, and even had some time to sit down and continue your chat from before, but then Kita, as conscious as he was, just couldn’t let your generosity go unpaid.

“(Y/N), I appreciate ya going to such lengths to help us out, but I can’t let this sit on me like that. Please tell me what ya’d like us to do as compensation.”

From the exaggerated way he talked, one would think that you had done some kind of heroic act and his words were unfortunately inspiring enough for Nishinoya to start demanding the same. 

And just like that the two of them had backed you into a corner. You were so overwhelmed that you didn’t know what to tell them so that they were satisfied, but then your eyes caught a glimpse of a red suitcase you had tucked away under the sofa. 

“I…I think I know how you can repay me” you silently announced as your hand reached for the object. Both men remained silent as they waited for your terms.

“You see…the reason I’m here is that I was asked to look for inspiration for our company’s upcoming fashion collection and uh…how should I put this…?” Your internal struggle was obvious and the fact that your cheeks were flushed told the men that whatever you were about to ask wasn’t easy for you, so to take some of your nervousness away, Noya placed one of his hands on top of your and with his other one he gave you a thumbs up.

“W-Would you two be willing to try on some of these clothing pieces and model for me?”

The silence that followed made you anxious and you immediately regretted uttering that question, preparing yourself for a rejection, but before you could take it back Kita giggled, followed by a heart-warming laugh from the former Libero.

“So that’s all? Why are you even hesitating on asking us to model for you?” The nonchalance with which both of them reacted to your request was truly unexpected. While you still tried to process this turn of events, the suitcase was taken from your grasp and the men retreated to the guest room to change into the clothes you’d prepared for them…

And here you were, waiting for them for almost 15 minutes. Your nervousness was partially to blame because you couldn’t quite tell them what kind of clothes you’d tucked away in that red rectangular container and the fact that they were in that room for an unnatural amount of time made you wonder whether they’d given it up.

N-No, calm down! They most likely h-have some difficulties with fitting into the garments, si–

…no wait…didn’t boss give me the medium ones…?

While you panicked internally, you failed to notice the two men that slowly exited the room in front of you and with slow steps closed in on you.

“(Y/N)?”

“W-We finished changin’.”

Their soft voices finally caught your attention, making you instinctively look up and the first thing that you noticed was their legs. 

Kita had chosen the pair of black latex jeans while Noya had settled for the leather ones. With wide eyes, you take in the view before you. The two defense specialists, whose thighs were so well-toned, were wearing such tight and figure-enhancing pants that you just couldn’t help but stare at their lower bodies. 

Being stared at was nothing new for these two, but the way your beautiful and big eyes were fixated on them just because of some unnatural wear, made their cheeks heat up and redden ever so slightly. 

“Sooo should we turn or strike some kind of pose?” asked the brown-haired young man with his usual big grin. Before answering him you had to swallow first and then proceeded by affirming his question. 

”I need to design something that brings out the wearer’s thighs, s-so if you could…bend forward, kneel or something of that sort, i-it might help.“ 

A word and a blow, not even a second passed and you watched as the men before you started to arrange themselves in rather compromising positions. The libero went back a few steps, now facing the couch, raised his left knee, and placed it on the armrest. Kita, on the other hand, moved closer to the soft rug next to you, got on his knees, and though a little challenged by the tightness of his jeans, he stretched his left leg back, while he bent his right one at a 90-degree angle before him.

When they were ready, their eyes darted to you, eagerly awaiting your comment or reaction. You cleared your throat and nodded a few times before praising them for the fitting poses. 

Having two men dressed in these rather kinky garments excited you more than initially expected. The urge to go up to them and get more touchy-feely than necessary grew with each passing second you stared at them, until you decided to blame whatever you were about to do on that one glass of alcohol you had drunk some hours ago.

You walked towards the captain and intentionally circled him a few times at a slow pace. You knew fully well that this pose was difficult to maintain for a long time, but the moment you saw the slight tremble of his legs, you just couldn’t help yourself.

“Kita-san, please try to stand still.”

“Forgive me (Y/N), it’s just–”

“Give me your hands” you suddenly ordered, interrupting whatever he was about to say. He did as told and placed both of his hands in yours, slightly squeezing them for additional support. With a small smile, you explained what you were about to do and asked him whether he could manage to hold his balance for at least a couple more minutes. It took the young man a few seconds to answer, but he was set on repaying you so a little strain was a small price for your kindness. 

You took a deep breath and slowly lifted your hands, causing Kita to raise his own and with them the fabric of his white shirt, revealing the high waist of the latex jeans. 

Oh god…I knew it

“Please hold this position for a little and try to move as little as possible, I’ll have to touch you a couple of times to…to get a better grasp of the material and its effects on your body, ok?”

“G-Got it” answered the captain in a silent voice and closed his eyes. You unobtrusively bit your lower lip as you squat down and gently placed your hands on the man’s waist, an unexpected gesture that managed to educe a surprised gasp from the young man. This trousers’ waist, which was covering the entire abdominal area until it stopped a little over the navel, was designed the same way as a corset, meaning it had ribbons on both sides where your hands now were and an entire row of beautifully designed buttons running down to where his underwear probably began. 

You slowly moved his shirt up and savored the sight of his slightly trembling abdominal muscles, then continued down to his thighs, his delicious thighs. If you thought the tremble of his tummy was satisfying to look at then ready yourself for something even better. The way he tensed his muscles up every time your fingers trailed his body, combined with his reddened cheeks and slightly heavy breathing made you want to tease him even more and you did. 

“Ok Kita-san I want you to let yourself fall back as slowly as you can and when you’re lying on your back, please stretch out both of your legs so that your soles point to the ceiling” you commanded while you hooked your arm behind his back for the additional support he needed to perform the thing you asked of him. If it weren’t for your hand that didn’t let up even once from his left thigh, his movements might have been a tad more elegant. 

After almost a minute you had the young man on his back with his legs outstretched, just as you wanted…but was this enough?

“Please don’t be surprised, but I have to…step on you”

“Wha–” 

Kita’s wide brown eyes looked up at you in embarrassment as he felt your foot gently push against the back of his thigh. His hand immediately darted to both his mouth and your leg, but before his trembling fingers could reach you, you began moving your foot ever so slightly from one side to the other, enjoying how pleasant the plush skin beneath your sole felt. You’d lost yourself for a second and failed to notice just how close your foot was to the man’s most sensitive area and if it weren’t for the silent mewl that reached your ear, you most likely would’ve stepped on it as well.

In a slight panic, you set down the former captain’s legs and helped him sit upright.

“I-Is that enough (Y/N)..?” he then asked in a silent voice as he tried to look away from both you and Nishinoya, attempting to hide his flushed cheeks and the small tears in the corner of his eyes. You would’ve loved to go even further but seeing him that disheveled forced you to give him a break, at least while you were busy with the other boy behind you.

The two of you watched as the young man retreated into the guest room on wobbly legs. You sighed to yourself, your conscience nagging you with questions such as why you had to go so far and what you were even thinking, and just as you were about to sit back down on the floor Noya’s cheerful voice chirped in: “And, what am I supposed to do?”

When your eyes focused on the shorter man you saw him strike his earlier pose once again with a satisfied grin on his face. Looking at him genuinely enjoying himself made you smile and you wondered whether he’d be able to hold out more than the man before him.

“Could you…step on me?”

He was quite taken aback by your question and his slightly flushed cheeks let on that he was more embarrassed by your request than he might’ve expected. It didn’t take him long to agree though, which in turn caught you off guard.

As he slowly closed the distance between you two, you used this opportunity to take a better look at the pair of jeans he’d picked out. In contrast to Kita’s, Nishinoya’s were made out of leather. They seemed looser and if it weren’t for the laces that were tied around his thighs, up until they reached the area a little above his knees, you were sure that they wouldn’t have fit him. Additionally to this little perk, the designer had chosen to cut from the leg opening up to the middle of the wearer’s shins and then cord it, similarly as most sneakers, making this particular set of trousers more skin-revealing than the former one you “inspected”.

The moment the man was finally in front of you, he didn’t lose any more time than necessary and immediately asked where he should put his foot. With a satisfied smile, you explained that your shoulder was the main goal, but if the laces were too tightly bound then he could set his foot down lower, on your chest for example.

You watched as the young man slowly raised his left leg and as carefully as he could positioned it right between your neck and shoulder. Thanks to the slight tremble of his foot it was easy for you to tell that he didn’t put his entire weight on you, most likely out of fear of injuring you. A small grin adorned your lips as you moved your shoulder a bit and watched Noya freak out and almost lose his balance and fall down. Luckily for him, your reactions were quicker than his and you had taken a tight hold of his leg and hips, supporting him as well as making sure that he didn’t ruin his position. But now, thanks to your little escapade, he was forced to lean on you, so except having one hand on your shoulder and the other on your head, his crotch was dangerously close to your face.

“Um…(Y/N)? C-Can I just redo the pos–“

“Don’t move…this is perfect!”

Confused by your sudden enthusiasm, the young man took a glance down at you and saw how intensely you started at both his thighs and groin. Not wanting to embarrass himself any further, Noya copied the man before him and closed his eyes, giving you the freedom of doing whatever you wanted yet again.

You didn’t want to admit it, but there wasn’t a better way this could’ve worked out. Not only were you able to see how the tightly bound laces made some of his flesh bulge out in between them, but also how these pants had neither a button nor a zipper, and the wearer had to make use of the strings, that circled their thighs, to steady them. You slowly opened your mouth and bit the end of the laces, tugging on them slightly.

“W-Wait, if you do that then-!”

With a smile plastered on your face, you loosened the bow just enough that only the knot remained and murmured: “Sorry, had to make sure that such flashy trousers were sturdy enough to withstand a feline’s possible attack.”

A weak excuse which’s logic he first had to comprehend while you made use of his confused state in order to place your hands on his buttocks and squeeze them as much as the fabric allowed you to. While your hands kneaded his firm buttcheeks, you rubbed your cheek on his thigh, explaining that you and to test whether this design was comfortable for pets. You remained that way for a couple of minutes and softly kissed the young man’s trained leg before slapping his ass a few times, and finally allowing him to stand by himself.

To escape any uncomfortable questions from him, you quickly reached for the notepad you’d placed on top of the decorative table close to you and started scribbling down some nonsense, giving off the impression that whatever you were doing right now was truly work-related and not simply for your own pleasure. Only when you heard the door to the guest room shut behind him did you look up, burying your face in your hands not short after.

Just what am I doing, using them like that…?

Your excuse of using them as reference material was somewhere true, but stepping on Kita and kneading Nishinoya’s ass were not necessary advances you’d done only for the sake of satisfying your curiosity.

Left alone with your guilt, you waited for another ten minutes wondering once more what took them so long. As far as you remember, your boss had only put in these two sets of trousers and two other special items he refused to elaborate on further, telling you to find out for yourself. Now that you thought back, you remembered the pervy grin your boss had shot you after mentioning the suitcase and its mysterious contents, and you couldn’t help but be curious as to what the two men were about to put on and present you.

Speak of the devil, not even a second after you’d formulated your thought and the door opposite of you cracked open as the two young men slowly walked out.

I’m done for…

Before you stood the former Inarizaki captain with what looked like to be a schoolgirl’s skirt and fishnet tights, next to him Karasuno’s legendary guardian of the backcourt with overknee black stockings that he’d attached to his black boxer shorts with the help of a leather garter belt. 

Saying that you were at a loss for words was an understatement, this was absolutely jaw-dropping. Now that their legs were almost entirely exposed you just had to come up with some type of irrefutable excuse that would make it possible for you to not only touch their bare skin but also taste it.

You crossed your arms in front of your chest and covered your mouth with your hand, giving them the impression that you were lost deep in your thoughts when in reality you tried to hide your blushing cheeks.

“Ok before I do anything, I need to ask you guys if…if you can deal with pain” you began and observed how they looked at each other and then slowly nodded. 

In order to make up for your earlier teasing, you decided to directly tell them what you were planning this time, instead of keeping them in the dark.

“I need to test something out…you see, with such revealing pieces of clothing the buyers often focus on how good pantyhose such as these can hide markings or injuries, s-so I need to mark your thighs as reference” you paused and gave them a couple of seconds to process the explanation you’d offered them before continuing, “the way I want to mark you guys, will have to be with…my teeth. Usually, we’d use a marker or makeup, but neither of those would produce good results with these particular choices of material, especially Nishinoya’s might pose a bigger problem than the ones on Kita-san.”

While you dished out something that sounded professional enough to convince them, you were surprised at yourself and your creativity concerning these white lies. The moment you’d wrapped up your monologue you intended to give them some space so that they could think it over, but much to your surprise, they were quicker on board than expected.

“Are you two s-sure? I mean…I’m asking to bite your thighs here, you know?”

Nishinoya put both his hands on his hips and puffed his cheeks out as he answered: “Yeah so what of it? It won’t be the first time my thighs end up bruised.”

“I agree n’ more than that, we promised to do anythin’ to repay ya, remember?” added Kita with a small smile.

Yes of course…anything to repay me, huh?

The captain’s last few words left a bitter feeling behind, but you shoved it aside and figured that both of them most likely used that excuse to fulfill their own fantasies, just like you did, so in a sense you guys were even, right?

You focused on their legs once more and decided to start with Nishinoya first, so you commanded him to slowly remove the garter belt on his right leg, but the moment his nimble fingers had taken a hold of the leather you immediately stopped him.

“It might be better if someone who has no experience with it takes it off…Kita-san, please undo it for him.”

A small nod that represented said man’s answer was all you got before he got on one knee and started undoing the accessory. You had to admit that the older man’s overly gentle and careful way of loosening the small buckle warmed your heart, but regarding the entire picture, namely Kita in a skirt, kneeling, which caused the fishnet pattern around his legs to dig into his skin, making the plush of his thighs stick out, while Nishinoya stood above him in nothing but a shirt, boxers, and of course, the black stockings that perfectly hugged his toned legs, made your heart thump harder against your chest with each passing second.

Kita whispered a silent done and got back on his feet as he gently unclipped the garter belt from the libero’s briefs, letting it fall along the perfect curves of the young man’s leg. With a small nod, Noya readied himself for you and tried to somehow position his arms so that they don't get in your way. 

You copied the white-haired young man before you, kneeling and softly rolling down the black fabric, exposing some of his slightly tanned skin. With your right hand, you steadied his hips, minimizing his movements, and with your left, which you hooked under his thigh, you were now able to turn or raise it the way you needed. To avoid a similar fall from before, you asked if the captain could support Nishinoya, which he affirmed and got behind him, taking a hold of his hands and whispering something that sounded like I’m here, don’t be afraid, I got you.

God, these two…

You turned the young man’s leg in such a way that the inner side of his thigh was facing you and slowly let your teeth sink in his flesh, gradually hardening your bite until it almost pierced his skin. Millimeters before you could draw blood, you stopped and let your tongue glide along the marks you left behind. Without moving yourself too much, you simply turned his leg a little to the side and once again planted your mouth on his still flawless skin, but this time you gently clamped a portion of his flesh between your teeth, started sucking on it until it reddened and finally took on a bluish-purple tone, only then did you let up completely, licked your lips and looked up. The young man above you was leaning on Kita’s shoulder, panting slightly, and looking down at you through half-lidded eyes. You swallowed audibly, rolled the black fabric back up, and gently patted his thigh as a form of release. While he recomposed himself, you took a step back and looked at what you’d accomplished. The bite mark you’d left behind on his inner thigh was barely visible, the hickey on the other hand was quite eye-catching. 

You once again grabbed the notebook and scribbled something in it while Kita praised the young man with a rather awkward smile and tried to prepare himself mentally next for what was about to come.

At first, you confirmed the former captain’s readiness, then proceeded to ask Nishinoya for support this time, and finally offered your upper leg for him as some kind of footstep for him to step on, just so you could see his flesh stick out from the rhombus-shaped patterns of his stockings and poke at them for a short while. You asked him questions such as whether he felt uncomfortable or if it hurt when the string-like material pressed down on his skin, only when he answered these questions negatively did you place your hand on his leg, moved closer, and bit down on his stockings, tearing them easily with your bare teeth. That unexpected action of yours successfully managed to make the young man take a deep breath and cause him to hold on tighter to Noya’s hands.

At this point, you couldn’t even bother to come up with an excuse and simply started biting down on the exposed skin. You were so lost in observing how the teeth marks and hickeys you left behind gradually darkened, that only when Kita placed his hand on top of your head did you look up to see his cheeks redder than before and a small smile adorning his lips.

You gave the injuries you’d inflicted a gentle kiss and once again returned to scribbling in the notebook.

“How long do ya plan on keepin’ that fake writin’ up?” 

The sudden question caught you off guard, causing you to stop writing mid-stroke.

“W-What…?”

With wide eyes, you looked at both men who started at you with their mesmerizing sharp eyes. 

Nishinoya extended his hand towards you with a smile and said: “I’m sure you still need more references for your designs, right? So just come over here and do whatever you’d like…”

…we still have to properly pay you back after all

And with that, you finally dropped the notebook, and your act along with it. Now that you were aware of their true intentions and feelings there was no need for you to hold back anymore. 

A few more experiments weren’t going to harm anyone, right? 

Since all of this was for the upcoming fashion chain…right?

It’s not like you’d planned all of this out beforehand…

…right?

[junker-town]

The evolution of Kawhi Leonard as a defender

Kawhi Leonard is still the league’s scariest defender.

Kawhi Leonard’s vintage defense is the key to the Clippers’ championship hopes.

Five years ago, Kawhi Leonard’s defensive impact was explicit. As the first non-center to win consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards since Sidney Moncrief in 1983 and 1984, Leonard was a human fog machine Gregg Popovich would unleash on whoever the San Antonio Spurs wanted to fluster.

Leonard didn’t just “guard” the best basketball players in the world. He quarantined them. He tattooed his name on the back of their eyelids. He invaded their worst nightmares by condemning them to pockets of loneliness. Leonard isolated opponents with a perfect blend of grace and menace. He hovered and pounced and refused to negotiate.

Few in the history of the sport were more disruptive. It didn’t matter if you were 6’11, JJ Redick, or the best player alive, smack dab in the middle of your physical prime.

In the years that followed, Leonard’s offensive ascension combined with a mercurial quadricep condition to ever-so-slightly suppress what he once was able to do on both ends of the court over the course of an entire season. He didn’t decline on defense so much as see his responsibilities shift; eventually he stopped bodying the opposing team’s best player for 30 minutes every night and began to pick his spots.

But this season there have been extended periods where Leonard’s defensive effort, focus, and impact better resemble his 24-year-old self than what he was last season — a heartening and relevant revelation for a Los Angeles Clippers team that’s all-in trying to win its very first NBA championship.

During All-Star Weekend, I posed questions about the state of Leonard’s defense to as many players and coaches as I could, including the man himself.

“I never even think of stuff like that,” Leonard said when asked if he could describe his own evolution as a defender over the past half decade. Then he thought about it for a moment. “[It’s] being smarter, knowing the offense a lot better, you know, just trying to be a better overall team player, team defensive player.”

When I followed up by asking if he was at the same defensive level now as he used to be, Leonard was blunt. “I mean, no. That was my job back then. I wasn’t getting the ball as often and my hat had to hang on being the best defensive player. Can’t do that now. It’s too much energy on the floor.”

“I don’t know what much more there is to say other than he’s as good as it is on the other end, when he starts playing.” — Nick Nurse

All that is true in the sense that Leonard is the one who said it; barring a pinch of self-modesty, he would know the answer better than anyone else. Leonard led the Spurs in scoring during the 2015-16 season but his usage rate was eight percent lower than it is right now. The Clippers have built their offense around his gravity and precision. Not including Luka Doncic, no forward finishes more possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. The highest assist rate of his career entering this season was 18.9. Today it’s 28.4.

But sometimes two statements that appear to contradict one another can both be correct. Leonard isn’t who he was five years ago. Sure. But his current apex still rivals the best of the best. He’s a roving scourge who uses countless possessions’ worth of backlogged information and incomparable physical dimensions to seep into the offense’s blood stream. Those massive hands that can squeeze 10 grapefruits at the same time are not smaller than when he wore a Spurs jersey. His wingspan did not shrivel, either.

Last season, Leonard had his fair share of brilliant moments with the Toronto Raptors. He picked pockets, single-handedly made open lanes feel congested, and in certain high-profile games embraced the most challenging matchup on the floor.

Leonard cracked an All-Defensive team, though not the first team — Marcus Smart, Paul George, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Eric Bledsoe all made it over him — and he tied Draymond Green for sixth on the Defensive Player of the Year ballot. But so much of the year was about establishing preservation and balance.

Kawhi finished 249th in defensive real plus-minus and the Raptors had the best defense in the league when he was not on the floor, a trend that carried over into the playoffs when they were never better on that end — by a pretty wide margin — when their best player didn’t play. Leonard’s health and offensive authority took precedent over the gas that’s required to be a true lock-down defender.

On-off numbers aren’t the be-all, end-all, especially in a 223-minute sample size. Most defensive units are only as strong as their weakest link; the Raptors had several all-galaxy defenders on that championship team and haven’t skipped a beat this season. And Leonard was still invaluable for a team that always needed him to reach their goal, most notably when Nick Nurse threw him on Antetokounmpo in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The regular-season MVP and his Milwaukee Bucks struggled to generate quality looks through the 99.8 partial possessions Leonard guarded him.

Leonard, with plenty of help, was superb in those final four games, noticeable limp and all. This season, several numbers combine with conventional wisdom to suggest that he has been more impressive on that end than he ever was while with the Raptors.

“As players get older they naturally get better,” Frank Vogel said. “But he’s always had great defensive instincts and great physical tools.”

Leonard is currently sixth in defensive real plus-minus — the metric’s algorithm has changed since 2015, but Leonard finished sixth and ninth, respectively, during the two seasons he won Defensive Player of the Year — and sixth in defensive RAPTOR (among players who’ve logged at least 1,200 minutes). His defensive box plus-minus was a personal-worst 0.7 in Toronto, but right now it’s at 2.4, his career average.

He’s deflecting 3.6 passes (only five players rank higher) in 32.5 minutes per game. Last year he deflected 3.2 passes in 34 minutes. His steals are the same (1.8) despite the slight drop in playing time. In 20 possessions as an isolation defender, he’s holding opponents to 0.65 points per possession, which ranks in the 89th percentile. (Last year he defended 22 possessions and allowed 0.55 points per possession.)

Those isolation numbers are indicative of how much a deterrent Leonard is, and who he regularly guards (i.e. players who aren’t about to take Leonard one-on-one). “If he [switched on me],” Memphis Grizzlies rookie Brandon Clarke laughed. “I’d probably pass it quickly.”

Even more important than the shots that are abolished by his presence and reputation are the ones he actually has to contest. Leonard is holding forwards to 39.6 percent shooting and guards to 36.4 percent. Last season forwards shot 45.6 percent with Leonard on them while guards were at 43.9 percent. He’s as immovable as ever.

Among all active players, Leonard owns the NBA’s second-lowest defensive rating. This year he ranks 11th in that category, and the Clippers allow 103.7 points per 100 possessions when Leonard is on the floor without George. When George is on the floor without Leonard that number shoots up to 108 points per 100 possessions, which is the difference between the second-best defense and 10th-best defense in the league. (A quick contrast: Last year the Raptors allowed 5.4 more points per 100 possessions when Leonard was on the floor without Pascal Siakam.)

“He knows where the ball’s gonna be.” — Ben Simmons

Over the weekend, I asked Nurse if he believed Leonard’s defense was at the Defensive Player of the Year standard he set during his early 20s.

“I think he is. I don’t know, we’ve played them twice earlier in the year. I haven’t seen him play all that much lately. I did watch a bit of the game the other night [against the Boston Celtics]. Listen, he’s as good as there is defensively. He can guard size, he can guard the perimeter, he’s got an incredible knack for getting a key steal or just taking it from somebody, going up and ripping it away and heading the other way. Great rebounder that can go in and grab the big rebound then head the other way as well. So, I don’t know what much more there is to say other than he’s as good as it is on the other end, when he starts playing.”

When you watch the Clippers, those sustained stretches where Leonard “starts playing” are hard to miss. He completely takes over the game by terrorizing everyone who’s wearing a different colored jersey. Take these recent sequences against his former team as an example.

A couple minutes later, he picked DeMar DeRozan up 90 feet from the basket, then late switched onto LaMarcus Aldridge to deny a pass back on the pick-and-pop. This is art.

The NBA is not what it was five years ago, pre-Steph Curry’s tide-changing three pointers. The average three-point rate during the 2014-15 season was 26.8. Right now it’s 38.0. Possessions have shorter lifespans, too, with teams opting to race up and down instead of hunkering down to wage war in the halfcourt. Translation: there’s more ground to cover and less time to do it. Defense is more complex and exhausting than ever before.

It’s unreasonable to expect any human being to sustain the type of activity he showed on this crunch-time excerpt against the Warriors, but 99.9 percent of all the players who pass through the NBA will never rattle an entire team like Leonard does here:

While most defenders chase the ball, Leonard communicates with it directly. The two have a bond that transcends film study or the memorization of an opponent’s tendencies. He doesn’t think through the action or even react to what’s happening. Instead, Leonard makes the play’s result feel like fate by staying one step ahead of everybody else. “He knows where the ball’s gonna be,” Ben Simmons said.

Watch this clip against the Dallas Mavericks. How many players can reach in for a steal at the elbow, then race out to block a shot in the corner in essentially the same motion? As he covers a surreal space in no time at all, not a single watt of energy is wasted.

While in Chicago, I spoke to several players about what it’s like to have Leonard on them, compared to any other defender in the league. The consensus, particularly from those who just entered the league, is filled with wonder.

Aaron Gordon: “He’s got very strong hands.”

Josh Okogie: “When he’s guarding you, you’ve gotta know what you’re doing. If you don’t know what you’re doing, he’s definitely gonna take the ball from you.”

Nickeil Alexander-Walker: “I’ve seen him pickpocket people and I’m like, I don’t even know how he was able to come up with that.”

Eric Paschall: “I don’t know how he does it.”

Jaren Jackson Jr.: “He’s not gonna change his defense for your offense. He’ll play you the way he wants. He’ll have his hand right in the passing lane or in your dribbling area the whole time.”

Leonard will not win his third Defensive Player of the Year award in 2020 for a variety of reasons, the most important being his disdain for the regular season. His effort is up, but he still refuses to pummel each play with the same desperate intensity Antetokounmpo inflicts night after night. Also, the Clippers do not treat Leonard as their defensive spine, like the Los Angeles Lakers or Utah Jazz do with Anthony Davis and Rudy Gobert. It’s still incredibly difficult to impact the game as a perimeter defender, even one who can switch onto bigs and hold his own.

With the regular season’s home stretch bearing down and Moe Harkless — the wing LA regularly stuck on opposing first options earlier this season — traded to New York, Leonard’s defensive impact is set to become an increasingly important variable.

The stakes are clear. If the 28-year-old can simultaneously channel the defender he once was — handcuffing himself to the opponent’s best player until they consider sawing off their own hand, making set plays flow through bumper-to-bumper traffic, etc. — and the offensive force he’s become, through multiple playoff series, the Clippers will boast the best player alive, at the absolute peak of his powers. And with that, they just might be unbeatable, too.

[imagineyourstars]

I am going to request a headcanon/scenario on like a special sports event(1B and 3A are going to be girls then 3A will be cheerleaders and 1A , Tenkousei and 3B are the announcers/failicators)Everyone will form in groups of 3(Format:1 from 2A,1 from 2B and 1 from 1B) Then the 1B one must stand on top of 2A and 2B members who will be squatting down.(I also want a match up but it will be in the next ask as not enough space)

whew it’s here !!! this one ended up longer than usual… i had a lot of fun with it though ! as you’ll see i reinterpreted things a little bit to make it fit better into the story, but the original elements are still here~ those poor boys, forced to be cheerleaders… also i’m not sure what to tag this as since everyone is here, even if just for a line wwww - mod mademoiselle

Sports Festival - The Cavalry Battle Event ✰

read more’d for length !

The sports festivalin Yumenosaki Academy was going great ! ….. Well, it was great so far, anyway.You were named as one of the facilitators, and were mainly workingbehind the scenes to make for an easy festival. Fortunately, youweren’t alone : the students from classes 1A and 3B were giving you a hand.

So you were mainlymoving stuff around, making sure the festival’s timing was right and smoothingeverything along. Kuro, Tetora and Tomoya were working with you, andyou were really glad they were here. For once, Kuro was taking chargeof moving around all the heavy stuff. “Don’t go ‘round hurtingyourself, little miss”, he’d said earlier, patting yourback. Tetora was mainly here to fuel your enthusiasm and make jokes.Tomoya was a bit intimidated by the other two but was glad he wasbeing useful. He’d just follow your every command and run about likea little puppy. That was pretty cute… When you were done cleaningup the mess the earlier group had made during one of the events, youwent to the broadcasting committee’s tent. You had only a little bitof time to spare before the next sports event would start, and youwere looking at the students sitting in the shade with enviouseyes…

When you arrivedthere, you let yourself fall onto one of the available chairs,dead-beat. Hinata, who was busy taking care of the music playedon the speakers, gave you a sympathetic smile and handed you hishalf-empty sports drink. You accepted without second thoughts :sweet, sweet fresh liquid… Maybe that was what heaven felt like.Before you had the time to ponder about that, a familiar, anxiousvoice brought you back to earth.

“Um, nii-chan,we’re running late… the next event should have started threeminutes ago, actually… What should we do ?”Hajime wasnervously biting down on his fingers, while Nazuna, seated in frontof the mic, was frowning at his phone. Apparently he didn’t have muchluck trying to call whoever was causing trouble.

“It’sWataru-chin again… I told him not to make a fuss, but you knowhim.” Unlike his usual behaviour, Nazuna looked as tired aseveryone else. It didn’t help that the afternoon was already welladvanced. He was fanning himself while staring at a balloon soaring inthe sky. Up there was (obviously) Wataru himself, acting as the MCand announcer in place of Nazuna. Leo was trying to communicate withhim using a flashlight, not that he had much success though. Wataruwas (as usual) doing as he pleased. You were about to gently patNazuna’s shoulder to comfort him when Wataru’s voice echoed loudly, making you jump up in surprise.

“… and now,ladies and gentlemen, your very own Hibiki Wataru has the immenseprivilege to announce the beginning of the next event ! Beware, forour proud cavaliers will make your hearts stutter !”

“What the heckdoes that mean, though ?” Hinata whispered in your ear and thetwo of you giggled. Wataru was now throwing confetti, more excitedthan ever.

“Yes, it isthe beginning of the wonderful Cavalry Battle !”

Midori, who wasshielding his eyes to see the event happening further on the grounds,let out a surprised gasp. You and Hinata exchanged a glance andimmediately stood up. If even Midori was surprised, that could onlymean…

You couldn’t helpbut snort when you saw them. That looked like an average cavalrybattle game at first : two students (from classes 2A and 2Brespectively) were carrying one other (from 1B, apparently) andgetting ready to engage in a fight with another group. But one thingwas terribly wrong.

The first yearstudents were dressed as female cheerleaders.

Hinata startedhowling in laughter, pointing at his twin brother. “Yuta too !Oh my god, this is the best thing ever ! I’ve gotta film this !”The other students under the tent had also stood up in surprise…

… but your eyesweren’t deceiving you. That was exactly what was happening. Shinobusomehow managed to be proud of his position, standing on top of anover-enthusiastic Subaru and a sceptical-looking Mao. His rival, onthe other hand, didn’t look nearly as proud. “I’m going todieeeee~ ! I’m really going to die, put me down, Yuzuruuuuuu~ !”Yep, that was Tori all right. Yuzuru seemed to be smiling brightly,while Souma looked concentrated as ever. He even dodged one of Tori’shelpless kicks expertly. Nazuna somehow managed to stay concentrated,as he spoke in the mic again. “On your marks, set… Go !”

The other studentswere laughing uncontrollably. This was ridiculous. The confrontationbetween Shinobu and Tori especially so. Tori seemed to be avoidingthe fight, crying loudly that there would be consequences.

Your gaze shiftedto another fight. An ever-concentrated Natsume and Mika were carryingSora, who was pirouetting and waving to the crowd. Natsume seemed tobe busy thinking of a strategy… That group looked unusuallyserious. And they could be : their opponents were none other than thefearsome Track and Field club members. Adonis was almost carrying avery determined Mitsuru single-handedly : Arashi was barely holdinghis leg. They were rushing to Sora’s group : that one promised to bea fearsome fight. You were about to ask Nazuna about the rules ofthis event when Wataru’s voice echoed loudly in his own mic.

“As you mighthave guessed it, ladies and gentlemen, the whole purpose of thismounted cavalry battle is to dethrone your opponent… ! Make himfall from his mount and give him a taste of humiliation ! Only thatway will you prove your worth as a man…✰”

You weren’t reallysure how to feel about this whole catastrophe of an event, until youturned your head to the third and last fight. Tsukasa was fumblinghelplessly, while Makoto was obviously struggling to carry him andRitsu looked like he was about to pass out. When poor Tsukasa’s eyeslocked with yours, he shamefully averted his gaze, cheeks as red ashis hair. Meanwhile, Yuta was trying his best to hold his miniskirtin place. He looked decidedly pinker than usual, but for his defense,there was quite a lot of wind on that day. His “mount”,Hokuto and Koga, were rushing to their opponents. Koga was shoutinginsults to the other team : maybe they went for an intimidationstrategy… Inbetween fits of laughter, Hinata managed to shout :“Make your big bro proud, Yuta-kun~ ! Fight for your honor as aman !” Yuta apparently heard him, as he shot him a nasty glare.He wasn’t the only one : under the tent opposite yours, Rei waswaving a huge sign that read “DO YOUR BEST RITSU-CHAN” andloudly cheering on his brother. Said brother looked so pale that youwondered if he was even going to make it…

Soon enough, this farce of an event stopped, naming Adonis, Arashi and Mitsuru’steam as the winners. They’d managed to hold until the end and makeall of their opponents fall, after all. Or so you thought : you’d been laughingand joking about it with Hinata the whole time. Kanata and Tsumugiwere busy handing sports drinks to the exhausted students, whileWataru had begun throwing confetti at the crowd again. Wait, thosewere flower petals, not confetti…

“What anAMAZING event ! I hope your eyes are still burning with those vividlybeautiful images we just saw !” Wait, did he laugh ? Youthought you heard him trying to muffle his laughter while speaking…Wataru kept going anyway, pointing at a huge and empty stage. Thevery stage you helped build, and your back was still remembering itbitterly.

“To soothedown your fatigued muscles, let us revel in the beautiful song ourvery own cheerleaders will offer us… ✰” Wait. Morecheerleaders ?

Wataru was actuallyright : the 3A students, whom everyone had forgotten about, were nowstanding on the stage, waving and smiling at the crowd. And they were wearing cheerleader uniforms too ! Thankfully they didn’t wear skirts,but shorts instead. Keito was still flushing hotly. Maybe it was justthe sun getting to him, though.The show was good but you distinctlymade out two groups among the lovely cheerleaders : the “Let’sget the party started” group, composed of Kaoru, Chiaki andMadara, who were ready to shine bright as idols no matter whatclothes they were wearing… and the “Please let me hide in acorner” group, in which you’d put Keito, Shu and Izumi as theyinsisted to hide behind everyone else during the entire duration ofthe show. Special mention goes to Eichi, who winked at the crowd arecord number of times even though he looked like he was about to dieany moment. All of the students cheered a lot, and your hands hurt fromclapping, but all that cheering was probably just to make fun ofthem. Judging by how some guys were doubling over laughing, they werehaving a lot of fun with that situation.

As soon as thatstrange live show was over, you found yourself helping everyoneclean up the school. You were putting away the chairs the audience had used whenyou felt a hand suddenly clasp your shoulder. Surprised, you turnedover, nearly letting the chair you held fall on your feet : behindyou stood Wataru, looking as fresh and amused as ever. “So, dearproducer ? How did you like today’s performance ?” You couldn’thelp but smile, but still went to put the chair away as you shouldbefore answering.

“So you werethe one behind all that crazy stuff, right ?” He smiled proudly,even bowing a little before you when he saw you knew.

“That’s right,and do you want to know the best part about it ? I did it all foryour sake. You deserve to rest a little from time to time, andlaughing is nothing more than resting your heart, after all…”

You stopped in yourtracks, feeling your cheeks grow a little redder. For you… ? Beforeyou even had time to answer, he gently stroked your shoulder, addingin a whisper “Now I really should go, dear producer, lest theunamused bad guys find me… ✰” And sure enough, he went outwith a loud bang and a flash of smoke that left you coughing for amoment. When Keito hurried to you, Wataru was already long gone. As thevice-president was chastising you for refusing to tell him whereexactly he was, you couldn’t help but smile.

After all, theperpetrator was gone, but the memories made on that crazy day werenot.

[bramblepaw]

P2 Lab

apheeweek: Day 7 (sort of)

Prompts: Midnight + Poketalia

Ships: None; Characters: Estonia & Sweden + Norway, Denmark

Warnings: None

Rating: G

Notes:

Real life Got in the Way TM. This is also like, really cheesy. I’m sorry. Remember when I used to be really into Black and White 2? Those are still my favorite Pokemon games rip. Sinnoh probably having the Tohoku dialect helps me stop having an existential crisis over writing Sweden and what to do about accents.

Their eyes locked, and Eduard had to use all of his self control not to visibly panic. Before him stood a stranger, large and foreboding, who had broken into the labs of the Plasma Frigate and was glaring him down from the other side of the room. It was so late at night, most had gone to their dorms to sleep. Even as the security system that Eduard installed blared sirens, it would take approximately ten to fifteen minutes for anyone to get from their quarters to the labs on the other end of the ship. He was partially glad that, out of all nights, he had stayed behind, but also fearful because why him? He was intended to continue his project on the island their team had just bought, and was going to have to use the entire next day to acclimate.

He had to carry an air of control nonetheless. It was just some senseless thug, someone  that could easily be defeated in the context of battle. Because he had his Pokemon to defend him even when this man looked like he could crush him in two seconds. More unnerving was that so far, the intruder had yet to speak.

“Trespassing here was an idiotic decision.” His voice wavered, and the man hadn't so much as flinched; even with the sirens blaring in the background. “Especially alone.”

Eduard wasn't above having his Pokemon beat the intruder down. He just had to hold out through whatever the he had brought with him. Then, he could claim to single-handedly bring an outside invasion down (all of one, but who would know of his embellishment if he wrapped this up quickly enough for no one to see)?

However, much to his surprise, the intruder raised his hands in... surrender was it? Eduard wasn't buying it, and refused to relax from his defensive position.

“C'n we taalk f'rst?”

Was that accent from... Sinnoh possibly? He wasn't sure, and it didn't matter. For security's sake, he threw his first Pokemon out as leverage between them. Porygon-Z, for its goofy appearance, created a barrier to protect its master. The poor thing may have been an experimental failure to travel through dimensions, but at the very least, it had a physical manifestation.

The intruder, on the other hand, hesitated for a fraction of a second, before officially accepting Eduard's challenge. A Froslass emerged from the light of the intruder's pokeball, which set up further proof that he was possibly from Sinnoh. Still an assumption, but it was better than being in the position of knowing nothing. Eduard set himself up to defend, keeping a careful eye out for the intruder's first move.

But, the intruder wasn't calling out any attacks.

What?

“You c'n start.”

What???

“Thunderbolt? Then?”

Porygon-Z still responded to the hesitation, and lightning sparked from its body, hitting Froslass directly. Her owner made no attempt to tell her to dodge it, and continued to hover over the battle in silence.

The intruder's commands of Froslass were lackluster at best. He kept using ice beam, even after Eduard had set up Conversion 2 and made Porygon-Z immune to ice attacks. It was easy to tell that the intruder was throwing the battle.

“You could respect me enough to try.” Eduard called out over the still blaring sirens. He would hear them in his nightmares. Back-up would be coming shortly, and he gave up on dealing with this... situation by himself. He just hoped that the intruder wasn't intentionally stalling...

“Berwald? You wrapped things up and gotten those files on Genesect yet?”

He knew it. At least Intruder's accomplice had no tact in regards to secrecy. And there didn't sound like there were many with him, so they would still be absolutely crushed by the sheer size of Team Plasma's staff.

“Be quiet, Matthias,” came a much more firm, but warm, voice... clearly fighting a natural accent. Two more faces appeared in the door, both appearing somewhat surprised that Eduard was there. Would they not expect him to be? He worked there!

“Lukas, I thought you said the labs would be unoccupied,” Intruder's Accomplice One (Matthias apparently), said... loud enough for Eduard to easily hear. No tact indeed.

“They were supposed to be.”

Intruder, Berwald, hardly acknowledged his cohorts, and continued to try and hit Porygon-Z with the same move that it had been impervious to since the beginning. “Th's one is stronger thaan the oth'rs.”

What? No he wasn't. Berwald had just thrown the battle from the star--

This was all a set-up. He didn't know what for, but it was. Also, where was the rest of the staff?

“We already beat or scared away the rest of the staff, can you please turn off the sirens?” Lukas shouted over the noise.

Arceus save him and Giratina damn him, everyone was already gone. It was time to go for the emergency plan. What slept in the labs was a 300 million year old Pokemon, just starting to be modified in order to serve Team Plasma's purpose. It remained dormant in the pokeball it was stored in. For all of their leader's love of theatrics, it was smarter to hide a weapon in plain sight. He had Porygon-Z set up a barrier, and scrambled for the ball, holding it close to his chest in case someone grabbed for it. Which was good, Berwald might have been throwing the battle, but his friends didn't, as they quickly shattered Porygon's barrier and wailed on it with their own Pokemon. Three against one was hardly fair. But, then again, neither was a barely tested pseudo-legendary, which he had no qualms with releasing from its pokeball to avoid losing all of his team's hard work.

From the light of the contraption came the beautiful result of years of research, standing with menacing, red eyes and a newly installed cannon. It made a strange, hissing sound, but instead of doing what it should and battling for its master, it targeted its cannon for the wall and shot a gaping hole into the hallway.

“No... that's not... Stop!” Eduard wasn't sure if his voice registered to Genesect's over the sirens, rushing to turn them off. But, by the time that the dust settled and the room calmed, Genesect was gone, the sounds of walls collapsing echoing in the distance.

“... We need to g't out of heere.”

Berwald's partners had already taken that as a cue to leave, and they stood anxiously in the frame of the door.

“Come on!” Said the loud one, who seemed even louder when he didn't have to compete with the security system. But Berwald remained locked in place. It put Eduard on edge. The sounds of destruction from the floor above him left him with a sinking feeling in his chest, and a desire to escape just as strong as the intruders'. But, on the other hand, two years of work! If he stayed behind for just long enough for the intruders to leave, then he could save what he could without the threat of it being immediately stolen.

“You c'ming?” That thick accent cut through his panic-induced thoughts, and threw him off. His hesitance wasn't good enough of an answer, because Berwald withdrew his Froslass back to its pokeball and, with the barrier long dissolved, grabbed Eduard's wrist. “Caall your P'kemon back. It's n't safe for y'u to staay.”

Panic rose back into Eduard's chest. At least he had some of his research backed up, because there was no way he could save anything from the lab now! He could say goodbye to any future funding, because he was so terrified of Berwald and how he could snap him in half that he let him lead him out of the labs and into the remains of the Plasma Frigate. Genesect had caused so much irreplaceable damage... what if it found its way to the engine room of the flying ship?

“What about...” Berwald was dragging him faster than he could run, and it made it hard to question him, “what about everyone else?”

“They'll have to get off on their own right.�� Lukas responded far in front of him.

Comforting.

The three trespassers apparently had Pokemon waiting for them; a Lapras, which would have been useless if the frigate had taken off once again, but it didn't and wouldn't. Two of them released their flying types and landed safely on their living life raft. Berwald released a Staraptor of his own, and offered his hand. But, oh no, going down with a sinking ship might be better. The island was only a short swim away and...

He didn't get much of a choice, Berwald grabbed his arm once again and hoisted him upon the back of the foreign bird. He wrapped his arms around Berwald's waist for fear of his life, and squeezed his eyes shut, but when he opened them again, the trip down was over.

The ship had barely sunk down in the shallow water it docked in, Genesect had disappeared into the night, and the intruders informed him that they were employed by their own so-called prince to personally stop the Genesect project without his father finding out. Eduard was too shocked to get angry, and Berwald was still intimidating, but he fumed over it for the next week or so, after having been left on the island with the brand-new lab and nothing to work with.

He shouldn't have gotten that funding cut, he should have gotten a raise for the things he had to deal with, and a solitary position where he never saw the team that had personally ruined his career again.

[iltifosi-blog]

New Formation, New Contract, Good Old Lichtsteiner

On Thursday evening Juventus announced that Stephan Lichtsteiner had signed a new contract. The full-back’s previous deal was set to expire in June and, as the first few months of 2016/17 unfolded, few fans of La Madama would have been sad to see him released. In fact, after high profile errors led to costly goals against Inter, Chievo and Genoa, most Juventini would have carried the 33-year-old to his next club on their backs.

In all three games – and indeed many others – he looked off the pace and no longer the tireless force that had helped the Bianconeri clinch five consecutive Serie A titles. One of just six players who have been with the club throughout that entire run, Lichtsteiner also seemingly came close to committing the ultimate betrayal. Alessandro Del Piero taught us that “a gentleman never leaves the Old Lady,” but the Swiss international flirted with not only moving on, but also joining bitter rivals Inter.

The move never materialised, prompting a hasty apology from Lichtsteiner on his Facebook page that failed to repair the damage caused by encouraging interest from the Nerazzurri. The arrival of Dani Alves pushed him down the pecking order further still, subsequently finding himself omitted from Juve’s Champions League squad, a decision which appeared to add weight to the idea that Lichtsteiner’s time in black and white was all but over.

Then Max Allegri switched to 4-2-3-1.

No longer asked to dominate the entire flank single-handedly, the new formation not only ignited Juve’s season but also seems to have done the same for Lichtsteiner’s career. With Juan Cuadrado lining up ahead of him, the former Fiorentina winger helps to lift the burden at both ends of the field by giving defensive cover and obviously providing another outlet on the right whenever the Bianconeri have possession.

Fielded as an orthodox right-back in the new four-man back line, he has helped record 2-0 victories over Lazio and Sassuolo, playing a crucial role in earning those two clean sheets. Over that pair of fixtures, Lichtsteiner has registered two tackles, one interception and nine clearances, all delivered with his trademark tenacity.

Furthermore, he has been a vital part of the team’s much-improved attacking approach. Against Lazio it was his pass that Mario Mandzukic nodded down for Paulo Dybala’s wonderfully taken opening goal. However, it was his contribution to the team’s second goal against his former club that most highlighted Lichtsteiner’s improvement as he looked more like the dominant force of years past.

A move that involved a dozen passes became threatening when a sweeping cross-field ball from Mandzukic picked out Lichtsteiner. Rather than make an easy pass or wasteful cross, he drove at the Lazio backline, the picture above showing him drawing out the defence before giving the ball to Cuadrado who was hugging the touchline in typical fashion.

Again the full-back was one step ahead, continuing his run to drag Stefan Radu with him and leaving room for the Colombian flyer to pick out Gonzalo Higuain who needed no invitation to double Juve’s advantage. In the image below the striker can be seen pointing to the exact spot he wanted the ball delivered, with Cuadrado happy to oblige.

It was a goal that Lichtsteiner received no credit for when the final statistics were tallied, but it almost certainly would not have been scored without his involvement and intelligent movement off the ball.

Similarly, those last two matches are unlikely to be the only reason he has been offered a new contract by Beppe Marotta, but it is hard to imagine the Director General extending his stay without them. The new formation has seen him improve exponentially, Allegri reducing his workload only for Lichtsteiner to paradoxically deliver much more than he had previously been able to.

The day before his new deal was announced, Juventus submitted their squad list for the knockout stages of the Champions League and it was no surprise to see him included this time.

If, as former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once said, “a week is a long time in politics,” then a fortnight in football is seemingly an eternity. Fourteen days after that match with Lazio, the Bianconeri will step out at Juventus Stadium against Inter with Lichtsteiner in their starting XI and now almost certainly not looking to swap sides.

[auburnfamilynews]

The home Tigers were a two score favorite, a national contender, had a 13 game home winning streak and were hosting an LSU team that had looked shaky in all the right places. The national perception was that this was a Granada game for Auburn.

While LSU was the No. 12 team in the nation, pundits saw it as an almost an unwinnable game as the Bayou Bengal were 10.5 underdogs. After all, Gus Malzahn was a lot more respected than coach Ed Orgeron, Jarrett Stidham was perceived as a top tier talent at quarterback and CBS sportscaster Brad Nessler said “I’m not trying to put Joe Burrow down, but when I watch film of LSU, I see Danny Etling with a different number. It’s just another Ohio State transfer that can kind of manage the game.” LSU had no Leonard Fournette or Derrius Guice, just some upperclassman who had waited around long enough. LSU-22, Auburn 21. And LSU pulled it off because Gus Malzahn was being Gus Malzahn. He Gus’d it. Again. 

There has been a lot piling on to the refs.

They sure earned it. The referees single-handedly kept LSU in the game late against Auburn. By now, almost everyone in the country has heard the diatribe laid down by Auburn’s own Rod Bramblett and Stan White. Hearing Stan White be a homer isn’t something new, as Stan is quick to live up the his job as the color commentator. However, what was new was to hear Bramblett share in the referee bashing that extended for around two minutes leading in to and past the game-winning kick and survived a media timeout.

Rod is one of the finest and most professional play-by-play analysts in the college sports and not just because of his ability to call games, but to be extremely even-handed at doing so. Rod doesn’t do a lot of bashing, but he did Saturday as the LSU Tigers came into Jordan-Hare and beat the Auburn Tigers. 

Rod and Stan weren’t out of line. The calls were bad. There were over 200 yards of penalties in this contest and even though it is easy to point to the last penalty of the game against Jamel Dean and then recount how LSU had a total of six third down conversions by Auburn penalties, LSU had just as many penalties (9) as Auburn, with just a little less yardage (91 to 111).

Auburn fans can’t really blame the refs for all the penalties or truly blame them for the Auburn loss, although that last penalty was certainly out of line and set up the field goal. The refs dictated the game, on both sides. It just happened that the timing of the last penalty will be remembered. 

But refs didn’t give that game away.

Gus Malzahn did. There is a saying that I have stolen, or adopted, or maybe I just made up for my travel softball teams: You can out-hit bad defense, but you can’t out defense bad hit. Follow me here, because I know I just crossed multiple sports. The gist of that saying is that you outscore your bad defense, but your defense can’t outscore your bad offense. See Saturday’s latest example. But wait. Isn’t offense a Gus Malzahn thing? Isn’t he an “offensive guru?” It sure didn’t look like it Saturday. 

Here is the top-level view.

The $49 million dollar man has lost a game in September every year and has six total wins against LSU, Georgia, and Alabama. Six. He is in his sixth year. That’s right. He is getting just one win a year against the three Auburn rivals, although I realize he hasn’t played UGa and Bama yet. His two wins against LSU have been at home, so this loss is a new low for this series that somehow feels worse than last year’s debacle that saw Auburn laid an egg in the second half against LSU in Baton Rouge after putting up a 20-0 lead in the first half. This year Auburn held a shaky 14-10 lead at half before almost immediately putting up another touchdown to take a 21-13 lead into the forth quarter. It was another second half meltdown that is becoming the norm for Auburn, just as beating bad SEC teams by a lot of points has become the norm for Malzahn. Under Gus, the Auburn offense has been completely inept the second half in games when Auburn had the lead going into the second half. A tailgating friend of mine said some of the truest words I’ve ever heard, as it pertains to Malzahn: “I’d rather be down three touchdowns at half than be up three touchdowns with Gus.”

Let’s look at some specifics. 

There isn’t a fan of football that doesn’t know “you take points in the first half.” Instead, Auburn lined up for 4th-and-one on the LSU 17 in the first quarter where Boobee Whitlow was stuffed for a two yard loss. It wasn’t even close. The LSU defensive line blew through Auburn’s offensive line. “Everyone just relaxed,” Wanogho said. “When you’re playing a good football team, you can’t do that. That’s on us. At the end of the day, that’s on us.” Think about this quote from a veteran. How is this even possible? 

Auburn’s offensive line didn’t look the part of a contender,  especially in the second half. LSU brought more than four rushers just one time, all game, and somehow owned the line. Center, Kaleb Kim wasn’t just dominated; he compounded whiffing on his blocks by dragging down the defender twice. The pieces along the offensive line will continue to move, as they have every year under Malzahn.

Kam Martin entered the season as the number one back. He took the lion’s share of work in the spring and the fall and was named as the bell cow multiple times by Malzahn. Yet, anyone that had watched Martin play knew his strengths and his weaknesses. Being a 20+ carry bell cow was not one of those strengths. Martin had two carries for four yards against LSU. Again, another trend under Malzahn is going an entire quarter of the year not featuring the better power back. Shaun Shivers began the season buried on the depth chart. He is a clear-cut number two back by game four. 

Joe Burrow didn’t exactly light it up on the scoreboard and his completion percentage was pretty putrid. Yet the transfer from Ohio State looked more like a top draft pick than Jarrett Stidham did. Burrow didn’t turn the ball over and he was flawless when it mattered, no more so than the 4th-and-seven strike he fired to move the chains in his last possession. His touchdown toss to Derrick Dillon was inches from being picked off, except that it wasn’t and it turned the tide for the Tigers in yellow and purple.

Stidham opened the game with a second play INT that set up LSU’s first score. He gave another one away in the third quarter. After three games, he has just three touchdown passes and two INTs. For comparison, Sean White started out 2016 with 510 yards, three TDs and one INT. Stidham currently has a 584-3-2 line. Certainly play calling and protection were an issue but Stidham hasn’t looked the preseason part of a first round pick for the NFL. 

Receivers haven’t helped Stidham much.

The dropsies showed up again Saturday, even with Ryan Davis, the unquestioned leader for the receivers. Auburn has upper-classmen littering the receiver corps but Anthony Schwartz and Seth Williams are No. 2 and No. 5 in total catches. Their performances, as true freshmen, have opened up far many more eyes than the work put in by the veterans. It makes fans wonder what Kodi Burns is doing with these guys if the better performers are those fresh out of high school. 

It would be easy for readers to say that most of this is over-reaction to a loss, which happens to every fan base after a disheartening loss. Still, the conversation is the same one Auburn fans have had since 2013: Auburn fans got Gus’d. 

The post Upon Further Review: You’ve Been Gus’d appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.

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[junker-town]

6 winners from Week 12 of the NFL season

Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images

The Bills old man/young man tailback combo might be the balancing act they need for the playoffs.

Week 12 didn’t offer much in terms of playoff-caliber matchups. It did, however, offer plenty of instances of good teams playing poorly and bad teams leveling up.

The Seahawks gave the Eagles roughly 20 different chances to keep pace in Philadelphia before their eventual win. The Saints let the Panthers stick around thanks to dumb mistakes and stupid penalties before kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired. The Patriots’ offense looked every bit as non-threatening in a win over the Cowboys as it did last week against the Eagles.

Meanwhile, Washington and the Bengals, two teams that had one win between them, each held halftime leads. Washington even went on to win!

Sunday’s winners, of course, weren’t limited to teams that slumped to uninspiring wins or beat a Matthew Stafford-less Lions team. Here are the six players and teams who got their share of triumph in Week 12.

It wasn’t ...

Not considered: the Raiders, whose playoff hopes have been upended by the ... Jets?

Wait, that can’t be right.

No, huh, here it is. Jets 34, Raiders 3. Oakland opened the game with a field goal and then watched the Jets cascade over them like lava sliding down a mountainside. Things got so bad that the Raiders threw human white flag Mike Glennon into the lineup with more than 16 minutes left in the game. Glennon, true to form, fumbled on each of his first two series.

Derek Carr, who’d come into the week as a low-key MVP candidate, finished with just 127 passing yards and a pick-six, netting -3 points for Oakland. Glennon’s five drives gained a grand total of 32 yards. Everything was a mess for the Raiders.

On the other hand, Sunday’s beating was a cathartic moment for long-suffering Jets fans. Sam Darnold powered up with 315 passing yards and two touchdowns. Prized offseason acquisition Le’Veon Bell averaged 6.4 yards every time he heard his number called. A defense that ranked 24th in the league in points allowed stifled a team with a winning record to a long field goal.

So, good day if you’re a Jets fan. A season-changing, optimism-crushing one if you’re pulling for the Raiders.

Now on to ...

Week 12’s actual winners

6. Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati’s silver lining

Boyd was a 1,000-yard receiver in 14 games in 2018, but his impact with a winless Bengals team had been muted this fall. He’d had just 192 receiving yards in his last five games, including a one-catch, zero-yard performance in a loss to the Raiders that forced him to express his displeasure with Cincinnati’s toothless offense to the press.

First-year head coach Zac Taylor and rookie quarterback Ryan Finley were listening. On Sunday, they made it a priority to get Boyd opportunities early in the game. He responded with a pair of plays that almost single-handedly willed the Bengals to a touchdown.

First he showed off some Spider-Man hands (well, hand) on a 47-yard gain:

OH BOYD! Tyler Boyd with the unreal one-handed grab! #PITvsCIN @boutdat_23 : CBS : NFL app // Yahoo Sports app Watch free on mobile: https://t.co/YLI9jW8U5W pic.twitter.com/lfEakj1lzr

— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2019

Then he finished the drive one play later for Cincinnati’s only touchdown of the afternoon.

Spike that #BigLevels | #SeizeTheDEY pic.twitter.com/UL23JlYdaY

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 24, 2019

The Bengals still lost to the Steelers, 16-10, but Boyd led all receivers with five catches for 101 yards. The fourth-year pro showed he can be the team’s top wide receiver as Cincinnati hurtles toward an A.J. Green-less future and a complete rebuild. Unfortunately, that likely means spending the next four seasons in southwest Ohio, which might not be especially ... prosperous from a win/loss standpoint.

5. Dwayne Haskins, winning NFL quarterback

It wasn’t pretty, but Haskins quarterbacked Washington to a win. With the roster currently constructed as owner Dan Snyder’s tribute to the films of David Lynch, that’s an accomplishment.

The rookie only completed 13 of his 29 attempts and failed to throw a touchdown pass for the second time in his three NFL starts. He came up big when his team needed him the most, however. He pushed Washington 33 yards in the game’s final minute to set up Dustin Hopkins’ game-winning field goal. His 17-yard completion to fellow first-year player Terry McLaurin on third-and-5 helped give fans at FedEx Field a reason to go home rather than grit their way through overtime.

Haskins, in his most relatable moment of the afternoon, was possibly too eager to get the hell off the field. Case Keenum had to take over kneeldown duties at the end of the game because the rookie was too busy taking selfies with some of the intrepid few who’d shelled out upwards of $6 to purchase tickets.

Dwayne Haskins takes a selfie with fans while Case Keenum has to do the victory formation pic.twitter.com/Y76AL2cquF

— CJ Fogler (@cjzer0) November 24, 2019

Haskins would like nothing more than to ignore the on-field action at a Washington game in favor of having fun with people he likes. Same, Dwayne.

Same.

4. Tevita Tuli’aki’ono Tuipulotu Mosese Va’hae Fehoko Faletau Vea, touchdown machine

Vita Vea, possessor of the amazing name copied-and-pasted above (I wouldn’t dare try to type it from memory) had never scored an NFL touchdown before Sunday. This made sense, since he’s a 347-pound defensive tackle who’d played only three offensive snaps in his career before Week 12.

As such, the Falcons wouldn’t expect him to be a red zone threat. That’s exactly what Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians was hoping.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL VITA VEA HAS HAULED IN HIS FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN pic.twitter.com/UXlButlO9H

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) November 24, 2019

Vea, lined up at fullback, slipped past the line scrimmage untouched and caught an easy lob from Jameis Winston to send his team into the locker room with a 19-10 advantage. It was also the heaviest touchdown in league history.

This goal-line wizardry helped offset what had threatened to be another awful Winston outing. The mercurial quarterback threw interceptions in two of his first three drives. With the burly lineman getting into the mix, Winston went on to finish his day with three touchdowns, 313 passing yards, and a stellar 11.2 yards per pass. Of course, it wasn’t just Vea’s single yard of offense that did the trick. Chris Godwin’s seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns was probably just as valuable in a 35-22 win that kept the Bucs’ playoff hopes alive for another week.

There's a reason they don't call him Chris Regularguywin.

— Taylor Jenkins (@TJenkinsTampa) November 24, 2019

3. Dennis Kelly, who gave us our second O-lineman beer chugging celebration in as many weeks

Last Sunday, Quenton Nelson showed the world his keg stand skills after scoring a touchdown that ultimately was called back. In Week 12, it was Kelly who taught viewers proper shotgunning technique after the tackle found the end zone for the Titans.

Open up the cooler for the boys! #JAXvsTEN#BudLightCelly | @budlight pic.twitter.com/5DmJtbFq0s

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) November 24, 2019

Between Vea and Kelly, NFL fans were gifted 668 pounds of touchdown catches over the course of two plays. If the league keeps this up, we may have to co-opt the Piesman Trophy for the pros.

2. The Bosa brothers, who are apparently the key to beating Aaron Rodgers

The 2019 Packers vs. teams with a Bosa brother: 0-2

The 2019 Packers vs. everyone else: 8-1

Back in Week 9, Joey Bosa helped make Rodgers’ life hell with 1.5 of the Chargers’ three sacks that day. Los Angeles shot out for a surprising 26-11 win on the West Coast that reduced the Green Bay offense into a sputtering Bengals cosplay. In Week 12, Nick Bosa had one sack as the San Francisco defense got to Rodgers five times in a surprising 37-8 reckoning a few hours north of LA.

Bosa was part of a 49ers pass rush that kept Rodgers dancing in the pocket all evening. San Francisco limited the two-time MVP’s damage with a consistent pass rush and a big dose of trust in its secondary. Rodgers never found a rhythm downfield because his wideouts failed to get behind the Niners’ blanketing coverage. Even the improvised scrambling plays on which the veteran has built his legend were limited to short gains rather than long bombs.

As a result, he played at a level that can only be accurately described by one made-up but entirely accurate word: Bortles-ian.

The Niners made Rodgers look like an overwhelmed rookie rather than a savvy veteran. The Packers QB finished with an average of 3.2 yards per attempt — the lowest number he’s ever had in his 169 regular season starts in Green Bay. Jimmy Garoppolo, on the other hand, finished his day with 12.7 yards per attempt and 18.1 yards per completion,

Everyone else in the playoff picture should be taking notes — and trying to figure out how to lure a Bosa to their lineup in the near future.

1. The Bills’ legend-rookie run game

The Bills’ most dangerous weapon may be a multifaceted running attack led by one of the greatest tailbacks of all time and a teammate 14 years younger than him. Devin Singletary, the pride of the Florida Atlantic University Fightin’ Kiffins, notched the first 100+ yard rushing day of his career against the Broncos, springing for 106 yards on 21 carries. While that was a big accomplishment, he was overshadowed by someone who did less on the field.

That’s because Frank Gore’s 15-carry, 65-yard performance was enough to move him ahead of Barry Sanders on the league’s all-time rushing list. The 36-year-old now ranks behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton with 15,289 yards in the course of a 15-year career.

The moment @FrankGore passed @BarrySanders to move into third on the all-time rushing yards list. pic.twitter.com/avxZ7TQlMy

— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2019

The pair was part of a unit that ran for 244 yards against a defense that ranked seventh in the league in rushing defense until Week 12. That opened up the Denver defense enough for Josh Allen to throw for 185 yards and two touchdowns in a game that was never really in question.

So how did Gore handle this accolade? With the grace and veteran presence he’s become known for in his decade-plus in the NFL:

As we were talking to Devin Singletary he was asked a lot of questions about playing with Frank Gore. When Gore heard the questions he stood up and said “ask him about his first 100-yard game, that’s a big accomplishment” #Bills @WKBW

— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) November 24, 2019

And later by thanking every offensive lineman who’d ever blocked for him. Awesome. It’s no wonder NFL legends came together to congratulate him after Sunday’s big accomplishment.

Congratulations to an all-time great from these all-time greats.@FrankGore | #FootballisFamily pic.twitter.com/iFLoJg2n9n

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 24, 2019

Buffalo is now 8-3 with games against the Cowboys, Ravens, Steelers, Patriots, and Jets remaining. This could be the first 10-win Bills team of the millennium. It will likely be Gore’s first trip to the postseason since 2013.

The Bills still have plenty of flaws, but with a dominant defense and chain-moving running game, they’ve got the look of an old-school playoff squad.

[shervonfakhimi]

The Next 70 Piece? (3-25-17)

No, this is not fake news. 2nd year guard Devin Booker actually scored 70 points in an NBA game against the Boston Celtics. Even if there was some tom-foolery action late, 70 points is 70 fucking points. Give that man his due, considering some of the greatest we’ve ever seen have never reached that mark.

https://twitter.com/BenGolliver/status/845464055070449664

And if you still don’t believe me, see it for yourself. https://twitter.com/NBA/status/845473475892428800

As I was watching UCLA-Kentucky, pondering what the heck happened in Boston on March 24, 2017, I began to wonder who else could join Booker, David Thompson, David Robinson, Kobe Bryant & Wilt Chamberlain in the 70 point club. Who’s next? Let’s find out.

Just Missed: Giannis Antetoukounmpo (Not there as a scorer/shooter… YET), Karl-Anthony Towns, Carmelo Anthony (Long live the triangle, baby!), DeMar DeRozan, Kawhi Leonard (Blame Pop), Kyle Lowry, Kevin Love, Jimmy Butler, Gordon Hayward, JR Smith (too many open 3s would be needed to get there)

1) Steph Curry/Kevin Durant/Klay Thompson - Yes, any of these 3 members of Golden State’s Death Star lineup could get there if they so desire. All 3 love to run and gun, are lethal from 3 and are able to manufacture open looks due to the amount of constant pressure and fear these guys press into the minds of the opponents. Add in the masterful passing of Draymond Green & the general unselfishness Golden State plays with, these guys can be impossible to stop. Not only that, but when one is rolling, Golden State will feed that man and get him however many points he wants. Look no further than Klay Thompson’s 60 point masterpiece (in only 3 quarters, mind you) earlier this season, or has 38 point 3rd quarter bonanza a couple seasons ago, or the constant Curry barrages we’ve become accustomed to. Durant is the best scorer in our game today and can get himself a bucket from anywhere on the court and is a master at getting to the free throw line, more so than Steph or Klay. One is going to have to be scorching hot from the get go, enough to convince the others to let him cook, but that shouldn’t even be the hardest part. The hardest part would be for Golden State to not completely blow the snot out of their opponent to even give one of these guys a shot.

2) James Harden - Quite frankly, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet. James Harden has fit in seamlessly and perfectly as the leader of Mike D’Antoni’s high powered, fast paced offense. The additions of Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson have spread the floor perfectly for Harden to drive and get to the rim/free throw line at will, lob it over to Capela or Nene in the pick and roll for an easy dunk, or fling cross court passes to those shooters if the defense decides to help. Though Point Harden has made a monumental leap in balancing his role as scorer and facilitator, he is still an incredible scorer to counter his facilitating, as noted by his 53 point-16 rebound-17 assist performance, of which has never before been seen in the history of the NBA. His ability to bulldoze guards, run through swipes at the ball in his quest of getting to the rim, garnering him plenty of free throw attempts, and his ability to freeze centers changing speeds all contribute in his ability to finish around the rim and get to the line. This doesn’t even include his ability to draw Lou Williams-esque fouls while in the act of shooting jumpshots. In fact, as Chris Herring of 538 so astutely pointed out, James Harden has drawn more fouls on 3 point attempt than any other NBA team as a whole has (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/james-harden-gets-fouled-on-3s-more-than-any-nba-team/).The ability to get easy free throws from anywhere on the court to go along with ample room to drive and finish and his handles to free himself from defenders and hit tough jump shots over defender, Harden has as much a chance as anybody to hit the 70 point plateau.

3) Russell Westbrook - As if Russell Westbrook needed another statistical obstacle to overcome in his 2017 revenge tour. He might not be a good enough shooter to get him the extra points to get him to 70, but by God he sure would gun for it. It’d be very Westbrookian to follow in the paths of Kobe’s ‘damn it, I’m gunning for it’ mentality when he went for 60 points on 50 shots to get up to 70. But the difference with Westbrook is, no matter how many shots he shoots or rebounds he skies for, he will still have enough energy to pull this off. Watching Westbrook reminds me of the scene from ‘Horrible Bosses’ when Jason Bateman’s character is stocking Collin Farrell’s character swing his nunchucks through a window from his car, asking himself “Where does he get this energy!?” Now, Westbrook doesn’t get his energy THAT way, rather getting it from his relentless work ethic and passion for winning. That could certainly work in his favor to get to 70. Again, he isn’t a great shooter and sometimes shoots his team out of it, but when his jump shot is falling, it doesn’t tend to stop. Also, considering Westbrook’s prowess late in close games to go with the fact he might have to single handedly will his team back with his scoring, not only could he get 70, it might provide the best theatre possible of this bunch in his quest for 70.

4) LeBron James - Yes, LeBron is not known as a scorer. He is so damn good at everything imaginable on a basketball court that his scoring goes a bit under the radar. When he isn’t going after Charles Barkley or causing a hot take hazard when he sits games out for rest, he is still torching opponents, further implementing his staple as the best player in the league. Lost though, has been LeBron’s renaissance as a shooter. In fact, he is shooting 38.1% from 3 this season, his 2nd highest mark of his career. He is more willing to shoot it from 15 feet and beyond and is nuanced enough to beat you from the post or just plow his way for a dunk as if he were Marshawn Lynch trucking guys for extra yardage. LeBron is similar to Westbrook in that their reputations do not scream that they are shooters, but can burn you with it. They’ll need to be making them though to have a chance of sniffing 70.

5) Damian Lillard/CJ McCollum - There is some Golden State-ness here in that these two might cancel each other out, but have been to cook amongst the presence of each other. Lillard is fearless on the court, not afraid to heave it from Curry-esque distances and splash it in his opponent’s eyehole. McCollum is a bit more cerebral in his approach. He has a wicked (underrated) handle, crafty around the rim and gets to his spots, primarily around the 15 foot mark for a pull-up jumpshot, at will. He’s very smooth and almost never loses the ball from speeding himself up or forces bad shots. Both are also great at moving without the ball, running off screens and cutting to the basket with enough savvy to finish among the trees. With the addition of Jusuf Nurkic to get them easy looks off the high post and Terry Stotts’ highly technical offensive system, these two have as good a chance as any to get 70. Both also showed love to Booker after it happened too.

https://twitter.com/Dame_Lillard/status/845459578611351552

https://twitter.com/CJMcCollum/status/845462905084526592

6) Anthony Davis - Davis is, with much respect to Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic, his teammate DeMarcus Cousins and Marc Gasol, the most lethal big man we have today in regards to scoring. I mean, the man dropped an unheard of 59 point, 20 rebound masterpiece against the Detroit Pistons a season ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPdJ6K2tlgY

Davis’ first step as a big man is impeccable. Plodding big men have no chance to stay in front of him to take away his high-flying floater. He uses his length and athleticism perfectly, so much so that his hand is about at the same height as the rim when he elevates & follows through with his floater. Good luck trying to stop that. Put a smaller, quicker defender on him, he’ll shoot over the top of him or plow him in the post. Not only does he have the handle to drive and finish, he’s got the midrange jumper that he can drill in his sleep. On top of that, he is a fantastic rebounder, and can use that to his advantage to get himself easy dunks. Boogie might get in the way of Davis’ quest for 70, but when he’s rolling, there might be no one else with a better chance of 70 than Anthony Davis.

7) Paul George - This may or may not be an elaborate ploy to butter up Paul George and get him to come back to his home state (In my best Princess Leia impression: Help us PG13, you’re our only hope. Rest in peace Carrie Fisher) in Purple and Gold. Fool-proof, right? Ok, probably not, but it was worth a shot. Anyway, back to George. George has had a rocky season trying to lead Indiana into a contender, but part of that is because they are a flawed roster with too many guys that can’t shoot 3s well enough to space the floor or guard anyone in their path. This is where George comes in. He has been frustrated this year, and it is entirely possible Indiana just lays an egg to the point where George just tells his team ‘give me the ball, get the hell out of my way, screen and rebound.’ George is one of the better 1v1 scorers in the league. He has enough of a handle to shake his defenders for a step back jumper, can drain it from anywhere on the floor, and is one of the more vicious finishers at the rim. He’s also a really good defender, one that can get steals jumping passing lanes or force bad shots that could lead to easy transition dunks. I wouldn’t put it past PG13 to get to 70, I just hope it comes in a Laker uniform.

9) Kyrie Irving - Kyrie’s odds for 70 are kind of similar to those of Isaiah’s. He is not as great a mover/cutter as Isaiah is when the ball isn’t in his hands, but that doesn’t really matter (at least for the quest of 70 it doesn’t) when you have some guy named LeBron James, the best passer in the game today, dishing you the rock. But when the ball is in his hands, my goodness is he electric. His handles are on a string that allow him to get anywhere he wants on the court and he is as good as anyone at contorting his body under the rim and finishing among the trees. His shooting has improved from 3 this season, along with his free throw percentage. Plus, he’s proven, when Kyrie gets hot, he gets white hot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi7OSaVB3fg

The Cavs have really bought in to the pace & space era of today’s NBA. The extra transition treys Kyrie gets gives him as good a chance at anyone for 70.

10) Kemba Walker - A bit of an under-the-radar pick, but the first time All Star has to be in this conversation. The transition and growth of Kemba from an inefficient scorer to well rounded point guard has been phenomenal. He is shooting career highs in both field goal (44.5%) and 3 point percentage (40.1%) this season. His progression from 3 has really been noticeable this season, as Chris Herring pointed out in this article. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/kemba-walker-doesnt-care-how-close-youre-guarding-him/. No matter how close you are, if he gets any sliver of daylight, he will shoot it, and odds are, he’ll drain it. He too has also improved his midrange game and his finishing around the rim. Charlotte has been decimated by injuries this season and do not have a ton of creators on their team outside of Kemba Walker, save for Nicolas Batum. That could both work against him or work in his favor, having to pick up the slack for the people around and drop 70 out of necessity. I don’t expect Kemba to be the next to drop 70, but he at least has the energy for it, as evidenced by his 6 day attack on the Big East tournament in 2011 or his participation in UConn’s 6 overtime classic against Syracuse in 2009.

11) Bradley Beal - Another outside-the-box pick. Beal is having a career year, living up to every penny of the max contract he signed last summer. What’s been the difference with Beal this season? Not only has he become more aggressive shooting more shots, he’s been a lot more efficient doing so, a pretty healthy combination. He’s shooting a career high in: field goal percentage (48.1%), shots attempted per game (17.1), 3 point attempts per game (7.1), free throw attempts (4.5) and free throw percentage (82.3%). His 3 point percentage this season is the 2nd highest of his career (40.4%). These numbers are great, and has a premiere playmaker at his disposal in John Wall, who can get to the paint at will to collapse the defense, freeing up plenty of drive and kick opportunities to free up Beal for an open 3. Beal is excellent at running off screens in a Klay Thompson sort of manner, and is unafraid to launch open 3s in transition rather than get an easy 2. His ability to create for himself has improved this year too, whether it be out of the pick and roll for a pull up jumper or go iso. He isn’t the greatest finisher in the paint, but good enough to get his from there. Klay Thompson put out the blueprint on how to get busy without having the ball in his hands for most of the game, and Beal has the goods to follow suit.

12) Devin Booker - I mean, he was the guy who did it. Who says he can’t do it again?

Look, 70 points in one game is damn near impossible, improbable at the highest of degrees at best. It was a damn-near miracle Booker even got there when he did it. I’m not saying it's going to happen again, or happen anytime soon for that matter, but if it does, I’m putting my money on these guys to do it. If I had to rank them, I’d say the 3 most likely to pull this off would be, in this order, Klay Thompson, James Harden and Steph Curry. Either way, this was a historic achievement and should be treated as such. Shouts to Devin Booker, and hopefully this is just a sign of things to come from the young Sun prodigy.

[footballleague0]

Welcome to the era of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 30-home-run hitter

If I could put one memento from this home run era into the time capsule, it would be Rougned Odor’s line from June 30.

Odor, the Texas Rangers’ second baseman and No. 5 hitter that day, homered in the fourth inning with a man on base. It was his 13th long ball of the year, which used to be a lot. In 1988, the most formative year of my own baseball fandom, 13 home runs would have led American League second basemen for the entire season. Homers might not be as rare as they used to be, but they’re still the most valuable thing Odor could have done 13 times.

In that game, he also grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded, flied out, popped out and struck out. According to run-expectancy estimates, Odor’s bat actually cost the Rangers runs on a day he hit a two-run homer. This was a very Rougned Odor accomplishment: He closed June with a .207/.244/.376 slash line. He had been baseball’s second-worst-hitting second baseman.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton says 61 is still the “legitimate” mark for long-ball greatness. As he takes aim at an asterisk-free 62, the true MLB record for round-trippers remains in the eye of the beholder.

Baseball’s all-time home run king hit his last round-tripper 10 years ago this week in Denver. How he came to hit it — and what happened to the ball — tells us so much about a tarnished and often forgettable record.

For 2 minutes, 32 seconds of pure chaos, a high school state championship game in Rhode Island entered a parallel universe — and unleashed the longest hardball stalemate of all time.

2 Related

Things haven’t gotten much better or — if you’re counting dingers — much worse. Depending on your filters, Odor has demolished previous Worst Season With Most Homers fun facts. Before this season, no hitter had hit more than 26 homers with an OPS+ lower than 80 (which is to say, an OPS lower than 80 percent of the league’s average). Odor has already hit 29 homers, with an OPS+ of 67. He has actually been worse than that, since OPS undervalues OBP, and Odor seems to also undervalue OBP. His .208/.251/.405 line through Sunday, adjusted for his hitter-friendly ballpark, makes him the third-worst qualified hitter in baseball, according to FanGraphs. Eight starting pitchers have outhit him.

A rising home run tide tends to lift all boats, but a few archetypes become most emblematic of each era. In the live-ball 1920s, it was the superstars redefining offensive limits; in the steroids-fueled 1990s, it was the middle infielders with suddenly thick forearms doubling their career highs; in the analytics era of the mid-2000s, it was the super-patient plodders with terrible defense but keen eyes. This era’s avatar: the home run hitter who is terrible.

Odor — who might not actually be terrible but definitely has been this year — is my favorite example. There’s Mike Napoli, who has hit 29 home runs while batting .193/.285/.428. Maikel Franco has hit 20 homers with a .233/.286/.402 slash line. His teammate Tommy Joseph: 21 homers, .236/.287/.427. Matt Davidson: 25 homers, .223/.267/.462. Albert Pujols, arguably the worst everyday player in baseball this year, has hit 22 homers.

There is really no precedent for this routine merger of home runs and offensive incompetence. Three players come closest: In 1983, Tony Armas hit 36 homers with a .218/.254/.453 line. In 1986, Dave Kingman hit 35 homers with a .210/.255/.431 line. In 2003, Tony Batista hit 26 bombs and .235/.270/.393. The first two seasons came in low-offense eras, mitigating those OBPs somewhat. The last one was probably the most Rougned Odor season before Rougned Odor; Batista had a 73 OPS+.

But if seasons such as Odor’s have some precedent, the prevalence of them in the past two years is striking and makes for a fun game of Try Telling Somebody From 1988 That. …

Try telling somebody from 1988 that the guy who led the National League in home runs (Chris Carter, 41 with Milwaukee in 2016) wouldn’t have a starting job the next Opening Day.

Try telling somebody from 1988 that a hitter with 25 home runs in 112 games (Ryan Howard) would go unsigned as a free agent and end up in Triple-A.

Try telling somebody from 1988 that an infielder with 34 homers in 142 career games, including 14 in just 165 at-bats this year, would be demoted to the minors by a fourth-place team and not called up again, not even in September. That’s Ryan Schimpf, who managed those 14 home runs while hitting just two doubles.

Or try telling somebody from 1988 that a good defensive second baseman with 30-plus home runs wouldn’t be named on a single MVP ballot or make the All-Star team. Since 1925, only 35 second basemen have hit 30 home runs. Last year, Odor joined Dan Uggla as the only ones to get neither an All-Star selection nor an MVP vote. And this year’s version of Odor is far worse than last year’s. The worst of those 35 second-base seasons produced 1.6 WAR, and the median 30-HR second baseman produced 5.9 WAR. Odor’s WAR this year is -0.2.

Here’s another way to look at it: If you were to take away Odor’s home runs, his batting line would be .166/.214/.212. If you were to do that for every hitter, every season since 1988, Odor would have the 14th-worst OPS by any player with 300 plate appearances in three decades.

He has company. Napoli this year is fifth-worst, Luis Valbuena and Davidson are 11th- and 12th-worst, Austin Hedges is 18th-worst, and Brandon Moss is 27th-worst. Six of the 30 worst non-HR-production seasons of the past 30 years happened this year. (Ryan Howard, last year, would have the very worst.)

Of course, we don’t take away their homers, which brings up the question of whether Odor’s absolute inability to do anything but homer is an indictment of those homers or a vindication of them. Twenty-nine of his plate appearances have single-handedly kept him in the majors. Those 29 plate appearances have been enough to keep him in the lineup every day — he leads the American League in games played — and presumably make him more valuable to the Rangers than any other option they have. Those 29 plate appearances are carrying a lot of weight and perhaps a career.

Hedges is the strongest example of this position. Hedges is an elite defensive catcher whose bat was questionable for most of his minor league career. He hit .225/.272/.314 in Double-A, then .168/.215/.248 in 56 games in his rookie season. “Although defense will always be Hedges’ calling card and should keep him around for a long time, he’ll need to start hitting if he’s to become more Brad Ausmus than Jeff Mathis,” Baseball Prospectus wrote in its 2016 preseason annual.

He has, and he hasn’t. Compared to 2015, Hedges has greatly increased his fly ball rate (from 36 to 46 percent), and his launch angle has literally skyrocketed from 11.3 degrees to 17.6 degrees — from roughly league average to 90th percentile. He swings at far more pitches in the strike zone (from 65 percent to 70 percent), and the fact that he whiffs on more of those pitches in the zone (79 percent contact rate, down from 85) suggests that he is swinging harder at them. His whiff rate on two strikes is up, suggesting, as well, that he isn’t shortening up and protecting with two strikes.

Those changes have consequences. He has struck out even more this year, his walk rate remains one of the worst in baseball, and he has hit a lot more infield popups. Fly balls that stay in the park rarely land for base hits, and infield popups virtually never do; his batting average on balls in play ranks him 215th out of 227 major league hitters (min. 350 PA) this year. Hedges’ .172/.222/.211 homerless line this year is even worse than Mathis’ career homerless line (.181/.242/.229 line).

But those changes also have benefits: He has 17 homers, including seven with two strikes. An extra dozen or so times a year, he manages to do the very best thing a hitter can do. His actual, with-home-runs line — .211/.255/.393, for a 70 OPS+ — is, indeed, closer to Brad Ausmus’ career (75 OPS+) than Mathis’ career (52).

Clearly, there are good hitters who added loft to their swings, changed their approaches, took advantage of the live ball and became superstars: J.D. Martinez, Justin Turner, Josh Donaldson and others. There are also bad hitters who did all this and became more productive, despite their limitations, such as Hedges.

On the other hand, the approach that leads to more home runs might come at a cost for some hitters. Odor’s strikeouts are way up from his first two seasons in the majors. He hits a lot of fly balls — 27th-most in baseball, among 149 qualified hitters — but the rest of his batted ball profile is terrible. Only eight hitters in baseball have hit more infield popups, and only five have hit fewer line drives.

If I were Odor’s hitting instructor, I have no idea whether I’d advise him to keep swinging for the fences — keep doing the one good thing he can do on offense — or change everything because this isn’t really working. That’s one of the challenges of playing in a league in which home runs are suddenly cheap, but hitting is otherwise as complex and difficult as ever.

The post Welcome to the era of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 30-home-run hitter appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

from http://ift.tt/2fgFAV5 from http://ift.tt/2xjlM9N

[giantsfootball0]

Welcome to the era of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 30-home-run hitter

If I could put one memento from this home run era into the time capsule, it would be Rougned Odor’s line from June 30.

Odor, the Texas Rangers’ second baseman and No. 5 hitter that day, homered in the fourth inning with a man on base. It was his 13th long ball of the year, which used to be a lot. In 1988, the most formative year of my own baseball fandom, 13 home runs would have led American League second basemen for the entire season. Homers might not be as rare as they used to be, but they’re still the most valuable thing Odor could have done 13 times.

In that game, he also grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded, flied out, popped out and struck out. According to run-expectancy estimates, Odor’s bat actually cost the Rangers runs on a day he hit a two-run homer. This was a very Rougned Odor accomplishment: He closed June with a .207/.244/.376 slash line. He had been baseball’s second-worst-hitting second baseman.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton says 61 is still the “legitimate” mark for long-ball greatness. As he takes aim at an asterisk-free 62, the true MLB record for round-trippers remains in the eye of the beholder.

Baseball’s all-time home run king hit his last round-tripper 10 years ago this week in Denver. How he came to hit it — and what happened to the ball — tells us so much about a tarnished and often forgettable record.

For 2 minutes, 32 seconds of pure chaos, a high school state championship game in Rhode Island entered a parallel universe — and unleashed the longest hardball stalemate of all time.

2 Related

Things haven’t gotten much better or — if you’re counting dingers — much worse. Depending on your filters, Odor has demolished previous Worst Season With Most Homers fun facts. Before this season, no hitter had hit more than 26 homers with an OPS+ lower than 80 (which is to say, an OPS lower than 80 percent of the league’s average). Odor has already hit 29 homers, with an OPS+ of 67. He has actually been worse than that, since OPS undervalues OBP, and Odor seems to also undervalue OBP. His .208/.251/.405 line through Sunday, adjusted for his hitter-friendly ballpark, makes him the third-worst qualified hitter in baseball, according to FanGraphs. Eight starting pitchers have outhit him.

A rising home run tide tends to lift all boats, but a few archetypes become most emblematic of each era. In the live-ball 1920s, it was the superstars redefining offensive limits; in the steroids-fueled 1990s, it was the middle infielders with suddenly thick forearms doubling their career highs; in the analytics era of the mid-2000s, it was the super-patient plodders with terrible defense but keen eyes. This era’s avatar: the home run hitter who is terrible.

Odor — who might not actually be terrible but definitely has been this year — is my favorite example. There’s Mike Napoli, who has hit 29 home runs while batting .193/.285/.428. Maikel Franco has hit 20 homers with a .233/.286/.402 slash line. His teammate Tommy Joseph: 21 homers, .236/.287/.427. Matt Davidson: 25 homers, .223/.267/.462. Albert Pujols, arguably the worst everyday player in baseball this year, has hit 22 homers.

There is really no precedent for this routine merger of home runs and offensive incompetence. Three players come closest: In 1983, Tony Armas hit 36 homers with a .218/.254/.453 line. In 1986, Dave Kingman hit 35 homers with a .210/.255/.431 line. In 2003, Tony Batista hit 26 bombs and .235/.270/.393. The first two seasons came in low-offense eras, mitigating those OBPs somewhat. The last one was probably the most Rougned Odor season before Rougned Odor; Batista had a 73 OPS+.

But if seasons such as Odor’s have some precedent, the prevalence of them in the past two years is striking and makes for a fun game of Try Telling Somebody From 1988 That. …

Try telling somebody from 1988 that the guy who led the National League in home runs (Chris Carter, 41 with Milwaukee in 2016) wouldn’t have a starting job the next Opening Day.

Try telling somebody from 1988 that a hitter with 25 home runs in 112 games (Ryan Howard) would go unsigned as a free agent and end up in Triple-A.

Try telling somebody from 1988 that an infielder with 34 homers in 142 career games, including 14 in just 165 at-bats this year, would be demoted to the minors by a fourth-place team and not called up again, not even in September. That’s Ryan Schimpf, who managed those 14 home runs while hitting just two doubles.

Or try telling somebody from 1988 that a good defensive second baseman with 30-plus home runs wouldn’t be named on a single MVP ballot or make the All-Star team. Since 1925, only 35 second basemen have hit 30 home runs. Last year, Odor joined Dan Uggla as the only ones to get neither an All-Star selection nor an MVP vote. And this year’s version of Odor is far worse than last year’s. The worst of those 35 second-base seasons produced 1.6 WAR, and the median 30-HR second baseman produced 5.9 WAR. Odor’s WAR this year is -0.2.

Here’s another way to look at it: If you were to take away Odor’s home runs, his batting line would be .166/.214/.212. If you were to do that for every hitter, every season since 1988, Odor would have the 14th-worst OPS by any player with 300 plate appearances in three decades.

He has company. Napoli this year is fifth-worst, Luis Valbuena and Davidson are 11th- and 12th-worst, Austin Hedges is 18th-worst, and Brandon Moss is 27th-worst. Six of the 30 worst non-HR-production seasons of the past 30 years happened this year. (Ryan Howard, last year, would have the very worst.)

Of course, we don’t take away their homers, which brings up the question of whether Odor’s absolute inability to do anything but homer is an indictment of those homers or a vindication of them. Twenty-nine of his plate appearances have single-handedly kept him in the majors. Those 29 plate appearances have been enough to keep him in the lineup every day — he leads the American League in games played — and presumably make him more valuable to the Rangers than any other option they have. Those 29 plate appearances are carrying a lot of weight and perhaps a career.

Hedges is the strongest example of this position. Hedges is an elite defensive catcher whose bat was questionable for most of his minor league career. He hit .225/.272/.314 in Double-A, then .168/.215/.248 in 56 games in his rookie season. “Although defense will always be Hedges’ calling card and should keep him around for a long time, he’ll need to start hitting if he’s to become more Brad Ausmus than Jeff Mathis,” Baseball Prospectus wrote in its 2016 preseason annual.

He has, and he hasn’t. Compared to 2015, Hedges has greatly increased his fly ball rate (from 36 to 46 percent), and his launch angle has literally skyrocketed from 11.3 degrees to 17.6 degrees — from roughly league average to 90th percentile. He swings at far more pitches in the strike zone (from 65 percent to 70 percent), and the fact that he whiffs on more of those pitches in the zone (79 percent contact rate, down from 85) suggests that he is swinging harder at them. His whiff rate on two strikes is up, suggesting, as well, that he isn’t shortening up and protecting with two strikes.

Those changes have consequences. He has struck out even more this year, his walk rate remains one of the worst in baseball, and he has hit a lot more infield popups. Fly balls that stay in the park rarely land for base hits, and infield popups virtually never do; his batting average on balls in play ranks him 215th out of 227 major league hitters (min. 350 PA) this year. Hedges’ .172/.222/.211 homerless line this year is even worse than Mathis’ career homerless line (.181/.242/.229 line).

But those changes also have benefits: He has 17 homers, including seven with two strikes. An extra dozen or so times a year, he manages to do the very best thing a hitter can do. His actual, with-home-runs line — .211/.255/.393, for a 70 OPS+ — is, indeed, closer to Brad Ausmus’ career (75 OPS+) than Mathis’ career (52).

Clearly, there are good hitters who added loft to their swings, changed their approaches, took advantage of the live ball and became superstars: J.D. Martinez, Justin Turner, Josh Donaldson and others. There are also bad hitters who did all this and became more productive, despite their limitations, such as Hedges.

On the other hand, the approach that leads to more home runs might come at a cost for some hitters. Odor’s strikeouts are way up from his first two seasons in the majors. He hits a lot of fly balls — 27th-most in baseball, among 149 qualified hitters — but the rest of his batted ball profile is terrible. Only eight hitters in baseball have hit more infield popups, and only five have hit fewer line drives.

If I were Odor’s hitting instructor, I have no idea whether I’d advise him to keep swinging for the fences — keep doing the one good thing he can do on offense — or change everything because this isn’t really working. That’s one of the challenges of playing in a league in which home runs are suddenly cheap, but hitting is otherwise as complex and difficult as ever.

The post Welcome to the era of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 30-home-run hitter appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

from https://dailystarsports.com/2017/09/19/welcome-to-the-era-of-the-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-30-home-run-hitter/ from https://dailystarsports.tumblr.com/post/165509201771

[buddyrabrahams]

10 most important players in the NBA Finals

The 2017 NBA Finals will be a star-studded affair, and there is no question that the big names will have to perform if they want to lead their teams to an NBA title. However, both teams have some auxiliary pieces who could also play huge roles in whether the Golden State Warriors take back the title, or the Cleveland Cavaliers manage to defend it.

Here is a look at ten players on both Golden State and Cleveland who will have a big say in who takes home the championship.

10. Kyle Korver, Cavaliers

When the Cavaliers acquired Korver in January, the NBA world was content to more or less shrug it off. Sure, he’s one of the NBA’s most efficient three-point shooters, but Cleveland was seeking a playmaker at the time, and Korver did not fit the bill.

Cleveland will not be regretting their acquisition now.

Korver quickly slotted into the rotation and got better looks due to the Cavs’ abundance of talent. He promptly shot 48.5 percent from beyond the arc during the regular season, and he even helped his star teammate with free throws. He has already shown the ability to impact the postseason as well, as he went 4-for-6 from three in Game 4 against Toronto, playing 28 minutes and helping Cleveland close out the Raptors.

He is the player best equipped to go toe-to-toe with the Splash Brothers, and if Cleveland needs points fast, don’t be surprised if they look Korver’s way.

9. Tristan Thompson, Cavaliers

The Cavaliers don’t necessarily need Thompson to score a ton to defeat Golden State, though it would certainly help. What they do need from their 26-year-old center is rebounds. Thompson averaged 9.2 of them during the regular season, holding firm by averaging 9.3 of them during the playoffs thus far, both marks good enough for second on the team.

Thompson’s rebounding prowess is vital for the Cavaliers on both ends.

It goes without saying that limiting Golden State possessions is a must for Cleveland, and holding them to one-and-dones is essential for success. Perhaps more vital, however, is what Thompson can do on the offensive glass. In last year’s Finals, Thompson averaged nearly four offensive boards per game, taking advantage of his opponent’s more modest rebounding ability. That opens the door for second chance points and keeps the ball out of Golden State’s hands. It needs to happen again for Cleveland.

8. Klay Thompson, Warriors

Lost in Golden State’s 12-0 march to the NBA Finals is the fact that Thompson has been anonymous throughout that run. He was his traditional sharpshooting self during the regular season, but the playoffs have not been as kind to him.

The less-celebrated Splash Brother is shooting just 38.3 percent in these playoffs, struggling with an uncharacteristically low 36.4 percent figure from three-point range. Despite it all, the Warriors have cruised without him.

The Cavaliers will definitely be Golden State’s most difficult opponent yet, and they won’t really be able to afford Thompson being a non-factor for the entire series. Sure, the Warriors are loaded, but if Thompson is knocking down his shots, that’s just one more headache that Cleveland has to account for on the court. If he keeps on missing, the Cavs have the pieces to take advantage of the empty possessions. But if he gets hot, he can single-handedly carry Golden State, just like he did in last year’s Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against OKC.

7. Draymond Green, Warriors

Green is, as always, most important to his team for being a one-man defensive pillar, but the Warriors also need their star big man to keep his cool.

Draymond didn’t last year, resulting in his suspension for Game 5 of last year’s Finals. Green has even said that he felt that his lack of discipline at the end of Game 4 ultimately turned the series around and opened the door for the Cavalier comeback. It’s in the eye of the beholder whether Green still has something to atone for or not, but he probably feels he does — and now he has that chance.

That’s not to diminish what Green means to Golden State on the court, though. He is the team’s heart and soul, constantly agitating and pushing his teammates to be even better. He’s possibly the league’s premier defensive player, and he will at least have a hand in trying to neutralize LeBron James. He’s even the team leader in assists.

Green will have a lot of eyes on him in this series, and he’ll have to keep his composure and play to his usual high standards to help Golden State take back their title.

6. Kevin Love, Cavaliers

Love is important to Cleveland for all the same reasons Tristan Thompson is, and then some.

As the team’s regular season and playoff leader in rebounds, Love will have a big say in how many possessions his Cavaliers get — and how few Golden State will have. He has double-digit rebounds in six of his last seven playoff games, excelling on the defensive glass, and he’s in for a challenge to keep doing so against Golden State. His 14-rebound showing in last year’s Game 7 was a huge reason the Cavs got over the line.

Unlike Thompson, Love is also a key contributor offensively. He’s shooting 47.5 percent from three-point range in these playoffs, a mark that is probably unsustainable. He was injured during last year’s Finals and wasn’t a huge contributor offensively, so while he doesn’t need to shoot that well, if he can do something between his scorching output this postseason and his diminished role in last year’s would suit Cleveland just fine — and give the Warriors something else to think about.

See Nos. 5-1 on Page 2

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[madpicks]

New Post has been published on https://www.madpicks.com/sports/ncaab/best-worst-everything-march-madness-day-2/

The best and worst of everything from March Madness Day 2

It’s time to recap everything that went right and everything that went wrong on day two of the most exciting postseason in sports.

The second day of the 2017 NCAA tournament was built up as one that would feature a handful of the highest-scoring teams in the field of 68 squaring off against one another in highly competitive contests where defense would seem at times to be optional.

Things didn’t play out exactly like that, but as it always does, the first Friday of the big dance provided us with some of the moments and images that are destined to be remembered from this tournament when all is said and done. We had two early session games go right down to the final buzzer, we had one ridiculous dunk that’s going to be hard to dunk over the next two weeks, and we had some ridiculous and hilarious things happen both on and off the court.

Let’s get into all of the best and the worst from the second day of first round action at the NCAA tournament.

2 BEST GAMES

1. (11) USC Trojans 66, (6) SMU Mustangs 65 (East)

Everybody knows about the success that 12 seeds have had in the first round of the tournament over the years. Even with that being the case, the wildest phenomenon currently at play in March Madness might be the fact that at least one at-large team from the First Four has won one or more games in the main draw of the tournament in every season since the advent of the First Four in 2011.

USC made sure that trend will live into 2018 by erasing a 12-point deficit to stun an SMU team that many believed could play its way deep into the tournament. Elijah Stewart’s corner three-pointer with 36 seconds to go proved to be the game-winner. SMU had one final chance to answer, but star guard Shake Milton’s potential game-winning floater came up just short.

The victory was especially painful for SMU when you consider that the Mustangs were beaten in similarly heartbreaking fashion in their last tournament appearance. Facing an 11th-seeded UCLA team that had advanced out of the First Four, the 2014-15 Mustangs were beaten in the closing seconds on a controversial goaltending call. Despite its recent success, SMU still hasn’t won a game in the big dance since 1988, and it hasn’t won multiple games since 1956.

2. (7) Michigan Wolverines 92, (10) Oklahoma State Cowboys 91 (Midwest)

Depending on your own personal criteria for what constitutes a “great game,” there’s certainly a case to be made for this game sitting at No. 1 on the list. No tournament game so far has been more consistently entertaining than the offensive showcase clinic that Michigan and Oklahoma State put on Friday afternoon.

Red-hot Michigan made a school record 16 three-pointers, and it needed every last one of them to take down the Cowboys. In the second half alone, the Wolverines were 11-of-15 from beyond the arc, with star guard Derrick Walton’s 6-of-9 effort leading the barrage. Walton is looking an awful lot like former Michigan star Trey Burke these days, and his team just might be riding more momentum than any other still dancing. It’ll put that momentum (which includes beating a plane accident) to its toughest test yet on Sunday against the second-seeded Louisville Cardinals for a trip to the Sweet 16.

THE TEAM(s) THAT WON IT BEST

The No. 1 seeds

We ripped on No. 1 seeds for looking lackluster on Thursday, so we feel obligated to reward the North Carolina Tar Heels and Kansas Jayhawks for doing the exact opposite on day two. UNC wasted no time breaking the will of the Texas Southern Tigers and could have named whatever score it wanted in a 103-64 first round romp. Kansas started a little slower, but still had absolutely no issue dispatching of the UC Davis Aggies, 100-62. The dream of a 16 seed playing its way into round two will have to hibernate for another year.

Honorable mention goes to the Baylor Bears for exorcising their first round demons of the past two years and taking care of New Mexico State by 18.

THE TEAM THAT WAS THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

SMU

It’s hard to label a team that was a few inches away from winning as a “disappointment,” but this was a Mustang squad that a lot of people believed was under-seeded and would play its way into the second weekend. You can say what you want about USC making all the plays down the stretch and I won’t disagree with you, but what’s disappointing about SMU’s early exit is that it was even in that position in the first place. The Mustangs seemed to be in control of the contest for most of the afternoon, and had ample opportunity to put the game away before it entered the closing seconds.

THE ALL-DAY TWO TEAM

Derrick Walton Jr., Michigan

Nobody is hotter on America’s hottest team than Walton. He drilled 6-of-9 three-pointers, scored a game-high 26 points, and dished out 11 assists in Michigan’s 92-91 win over Oklahoma State.

Norbertas Giga, Jacksonville State Gamecocks

Giga almost single-handedly kept the Gamecocks in their game with Louisville, scoring a career-high 30 points on 11-of-13 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds. Giga had made just eight three-pointers heading into Friday’s game, but was 5-of-5 from beyond the arc against the Cardinals. He had scored 20 points just once before this game.

Semi Ojeleye, SMU

In what may well wind up being his last college game, the junior big man for SMU scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and threw down the best dunk of the tournament so far.

Moses Kingsley, Arkansas Razorbacks

Despite being in college for what feels like a decade, it still seems Kingsley is one of the more under-appreciated players in the country. Perhaps scoring 23 points on 10-of 13-shooting, snagging six rebounds, and blocking four shots against the Seton Hall Pirates will help change that.

Scoochie Smith, Dayton Flyers

Playing in his final college game, Smith carried Dayton as far as he could. He scored a game-high 25 points, had four assists and made four steals in the Flyers’ 64-58 loss to Wichita State.

THREE DAY TWO JEERS

1. Pretty much everything that happened at the end of Arkansas-Seton Hall

This could have also just been the entire Arkansas-Seton Hall game since both sides did some really ridiculous things throughout, but let’s just focus on the end.

For starters, Seton Hall’s Khadeen Carrington — who was terrific for most of the day — did this with his team down by a single point in the game’s final minute.

Arkansas attempted to give the ball right back with an inexcusable travel of its own, but the officials refused to let them be so generous.

Is this the travel that everyone was referring to?? Because, well, I can see why people are mad. pic.twitter.com/UdhqdgQ6hR

— Big East Coast Bias (@becb_sbn) March 17, 2017

What the officials did call was an extremely questionable flagrant foul on this play:

The call gave Arkansas two shots and the ball and effectively ended the game. NCAA National Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officiating J.D. Collins attempted to explain the call after the game, but his words did little to ease the pain of Seton Hall fans.

Arkansas won, 77-71, and will face top-seeded North Carolina on Sunday.

2. Butler Blue still being banned from the tournament

Butler Blue III is the official mascot of Butler Bulldog athletics, as well as a noted very good dog. Unfortunately, BB3 (as his friends call him) won’t be in attendance when his guys take on the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders in a big second round game on Saturday. The reason is because the NCAA has a ban against live mascots in the early rounds of championship competitions. This is very dumb, and there is a simple and persuasive counter-argument for each one of the NCAA’s points.

#FreeBB3

3. The missed dunk trend continuing

Players getting rejected by the rim on uncontested dunk attempts was both the most troubling and kind of hilarious storyline from day one at the big dance. The trend carried over into day two, with Jaylen Johnson doing this early on in Louisville’s game against Jacksonville State.

THREE DAY TWO CHEERS

1. The First Four magic continuing

In every season since its inception in 2011, the First Four has produced at least one at-large team that has won at least a game in the main draw. It’s also spawned one Final Four team and four Sweet 16 squads. That last number has the potential to grow this season after USC’s upset of SMU.

The Trojans advanced to the main draw after toppling the Providence Friars in Dayton on Wednesday. In both of their tournament wins, Andy Enfield’s team trailed by double-digits. They’ll face Baylor on Sunday with a trip to the tournament’s second weekend on the line.

2. LeVar Burton’s handling of misguided LaVar Ball hecklers

To be fair, both the overbearing father and the Reading Rainbow host have a shared belief in the notion that anything is possible.

Friend to know Ways to grow And a son named Lonzoooo

3. Everybody being right about picking the Rhode Island Rams to “upset” the Creighton Bluejays

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen America so united in a belief that a double-digit seed was going to win an NCAA tournament game before. Congrats, everybody. We all nailed it. Free pizza for everyone tomorrow.

If you picked Creighton, you still get pizza, but it has to have pineapple on it.

THE BEST DAY TWO DUNK

It’s going to be hard for anyone else in this tournament to top what SMU’s Semi Ojeleye did on Friday.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/nxE6bOedmm

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 17, 2017

THE BEST DAY TWO PICTURE

It feels almost wrong to refer to something like this as “the best,” but the obvious emotion flowing out of Iona’s Jordan Washington in the final moments of the Gaels’ loss to Oregon was a brutal reminder of the other side of March Madness. This photo was especially moving.

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

THE BEST DAY TWO QUOTE

We’re playing against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. So I’ve never seen — I watched the second half. I’ve never seen shooting like that since I’ve been a coach. It’s incredible the way they shoot the basketball.

—Rick Pitino discussing Michigan’s shooting performance on Friday and his team’s matchup against the Wolverines on Sunday

FULL SATURDAY SCHEDULE

If I told you that you could have more of this, would that be something you might be interested in? You’re in luck then. The show isn’t stopping.

No. 4 West Virginia Mountaineers vs. No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 12:10 p.m.

West region | Buffalo, N.Y.

TV: CBS | Announcers: Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel, Allie LaForce

No. 1 Villanova Wildcats vs. No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers, 2:40 p.m.*

East region | Buffalo, N.Y.

TV: CBS | Announcers: Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel, Allie LaForce

No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. No. 8 Northwestern Wildcats, 5:15 p.m.

West region | Salt Lake City, Utah

TV: CBS | Announcers: Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Jamie Erdahl

No. 3 Florida State Seminoles vs. No. 11 Xavier Musketeers, 6:10 p.m.

West region | Orlando, Fla.

TV: TNT | Announcers: Ian Eagle, Steve Lavin, Evan Washburn

No. 4 Butler vs. No. 12 Middle Tennessee, 7:10 p.m.

South region | Milwaukee, Wisc.

TV: TBS | Announcers: Carter Blackburn, Mike Gminski, Debbie Antonelli, Lisa Byington

No. 2 Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 7 Saint Mary’s Gaels, 7:45 p.m.*

West region | Salt Lake City, Utah

TV: CBS | Announcers: Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Jamie Erdahl

No. 4 Florida Gators vs. No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers, 8:40 p.m.*

East region | Orlando, Fla.

TV: TNT | Announcers: Ian Eagle, Steve Lavin, Evan Washburn

No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers vs. No. 5 Iowa State Cyclones, 9:40 p.m.*

Midwest region | Milwaukee, Wisc.

TV: TBS | Announcers: Carter Blackburn, Mike Gminski, Debbie Antonelli, Lisa Byington

*game time estimated, after the conclusion of previous game in region

[mdbasketball-blog]

All star break, All Star Teams

Current All-Star Teams

The NBA taking the center position the official all-star balloting a couple years ago made sense, but it makes aactual all-star lineups feel weird for having a small forward where a center would traditionally be. It just makes me feel weird, so when I do my all-star lineups, I’ll have the traditional two guards, two forward, but the last spot will be for a BIG, which could be a power forward or Center

Eastern Conference

Guards

John Wall, Wizards

Wall was at a serious crossroads earlier in the season; He and Bradley Beal still weren’t getting along or playing well together, the bench was being criticized by Marcin Gortat, he was getting ejected for petty shit. It was looking bad, but Wall and the Wizards have turned it all the way around and are making noise. The Wizards are 3rd in the East and 8th overall. With Chris Paul injured, Wall has the strongest clai m to beign the best two way guard in the guard, as he’s second in assists with 10.6, tied for league lead in steals with 112. He’s also scoring and shooting at career highs 23.7 points per game and .540 TS%. With Bradley Beal fully healthy and Otto Porter feeling the perfect role, Wall and the Wizards are definitely trending up in power rankings

Isaiah Thomas, Celtics

Thomas has channeled the energies of his idol, Allen Iverson, and become a dynamic, overwhelming scoring force despite his lack of size.  He’s currently 2nd in scoring, averaging 29.9 points a game on 46-38-91 and he also dishes six assists a game for a Celtics team that ranks 2nd in the East and 5th overall. In advanced metrics, he’s 5th in PER, fifth in win shares, 2nd in box plus/minus and 2nd in offensive box plus/minus. The most important aspect of his game is his historic 4th quarter production that has single-handedly won the Celtics so many games this year. He averaged 10 points a game in the fourth quarter which hasn’t been done. The little man is packing a big punch and making me look good, because I predicted the Celtics to be 2nd in the East and challenge the Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals

Forwards

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks

The Greek Freak has made another step towards being the most unguardable player in the league due to his outrageous height, wing span, and athleticism. He’s averaging 23.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists a game, while shooting 52% from the field. He’s 8th in PER, 9th in Win Shares, 5th in box plus/minus, and 4th in VORP. With all that offensive production, he’s making just as much of an impact on the defensive side, as he’s fifth in steals, 6th in blocks and fourth five in defensive box plus minus. To cap it all off, he’s leading the underachieving Bucks in every major statistical category, which would put him in elite company with Dave Cowens, Scottie Pippen, Kevin Garnett, and Lebron James. We might not see him in the playoffs this year, but we’ll see him doing some major damage in the coming seasons.

Lebron James, Cavaliers

It hasn’t been perfect for James and the Cavs had a rocky month in January, going 6-7. Kevin Love has been (and will be) banged up, Lebron and Cavs management seem to be at odds about roster changes, and their overall play hasn’t been quite at the level of the Warriors of Spurs. With all that, the Cavs are still the best team in the East and Lebron James is the reason for it. He’s averaging 25.9 points (7th), 8.8 assists (fourth) and 7.7 rebounds. That 8.8 assists per game would break his own record most assists in a season by a forward. He’s also shooting 52% from the field and 35% from the arc. For a guy who has developed the habit of coasting in the regular season, 25-8-7 on 52% is elite status numbers. He’s eighth in win shares, 6th in box plus/minus, and 3rd in VORP. When Lebron leaves the floor, this “stacked” Cavs squad looks very average with Kyrie Irving relying on his dazzling isolation skills to replace Lebron’s court generalship. They’re 0-3 in games where Lebron has sat and they lose 13.3 points per 100 possessions when Lebron is off the court. None of it matters until playoff time

The Big

Kevin Love, Cavaliers

I’ll be honest, I don’t know what to do here. You could go with Joel Embiid for his per 36 minute dominance. You could go with Paul Millsap for his versatility on a winning Hawks team. You could go with Andre Drummond or Hassan Whiteside for their strong rebounding/defense impact on losing teams. I said fuck it and went for the best big on the best team. Love is averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 42-37-86 and he has one of the most memorable performances of the year when he dropped 34 points in the first quarter against the Blazers. He’s also the only player in the East averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Bench

Guard – Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers. Career high in scoring with 24.4 and one of the best 4th quarter assassins in the league Guard – Bradley Beal, Wizards. Finally healthy averaging 22 points on 47-40-81 shooting splits Guard – Kyle Lowry, Raptors. Top ten in assists and third in 3 pointers. Guard – Demar Derozan, Raptors. 6th in scoring with an early 30 point game streak that put him in Jordan territory Forward – Jimmy Butler, Bulls. Averaging 24-6-5 and carrying the Bulls. Forward - Paul Millsap, Hawks. Averaging 17 & 7 with strong defense on an elite defensive team. Center – Andre Drummond, Pistons. 2nd in rebounds, 4th in steals, leads the league in defensive rating.

Western Conference

Guards

Russell Westbrook, Thunder

His former partner in crime joined the Golden State Warriors, leaving Westbrook with a subpar team, complete leadership, and great motivation. His triple double exploits over the past two seasons have been even more magnified this year as halfway through the season and he looks to joining Oscar Robertosn as he’s averaging a bonified triple double with 31.1 points per game (1st), 10.1 assists (3rd) and 10.1 rebounds (leading all guards and the highest rpg average for a guard since Oscar). He’s also leading the league in PER and Box Plus/Minus. His 27 triple doubles in a season are currently 3rd all time behind Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson in the record books and the Thunder need him to keep up his historic production to win. The Thunder are 21-6 in games where Westbrook has a triple double, which translates to a 66 win season. He also leads the league in PER, Box Plus/Minus, & VORP. The Thunder are lowly seeded in the West, but Westbrook is doing his damndest to keep them alive while reaching history. High praises to him.

James Harden, Rockets

My current MVP frontrunner. Harden was blessed with some great acquisitions in the off-season. Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson have been great from the three point line, but the biggest acquisition was coach Mike D’Antoni who brought a fast-paced guard centric play style. Harden was put in a much better situation than he was in last year and he’s thriving in it, leading the league with 11.3 assists a game, alone with 29.2 points (3rd) and 8.2 rebounds. He’s shooting 44-35-85 and leading the Rockets to the third best record in the west and 4th in league. He’s second in three pointers, leads the league in win shares, 3rd in PER, 3rd in box plus/minus and 2nd in VORP. He’s been one of the best guards in the league since he joined the Rockets and this seems like the year he’ll be wielding the big trophy.

Forwards

Kevin Durant, Warriors

Durant became the villain of all villains, leaving the Thunder high and dry to join the 73-9 Warriors. It’s the quickest easiest way to a possible championship and credit for Durant, he’s fitting like a glove. He’s leading the team with 25.8 points per game (9th) and having the most efficient shooting season of his career, with a 65.5 true shooting percentage. Whats been more impressive about his play has been his defensive work. he’s grabbing a career high 8.4 rebounds a game, has racked up 95 blocks good for top ten and on pace for a career high, and ranks in the top ten for defensive rating and defensive box plus/minus. He’s 4th in PER, 2nd in Win Shares, 7th in Box Plus/Minus and 5th in VORP. He has arguably surpassed Stephen Curry as the best player on the Warriors and that’s almost enough of an accomplishment to justify his jump to Golden State.

Kawhi Leonard, Spurs

Kawhi has easily inherited Tim Duncan’s old role of under the radar superstar. The Spurs are and have been 2nd in the league pretty much for the entire season and nobody is batting an eye because that’s the Spur way. Kawhi has expanded his isolation game tremendously and become an even more dangerous offensive mismatch. Hes averaging a career high 25.9 points per game on 48-39-89 shooting. The two time defensive player of the year remains the best perimeter defender in the league, so much that teams prefer isolating him in a corner and playing 4 on 4 without their best perimeter player. This warped gameplan results in the Spurs being statistically better with Kahwi off the court, but it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things because the Spurs are 1st in defensive rating and 2nd in points allowed, and Kahwi’s own defensive rating is 7th in the league. Leonard is 2nd in PER, 3rd in Win Shares, 8th in Box Plus/Minus, & 8th in VORP, and the best two way player in the league (outside of a motivated Lebron)

The Big

Anthony Davis, Pelicans

Another season of the Pelicans sucking despite Anthony Davis’ effort on both sides of the court. He’ averaging 27.7 points (5th) and 12 rebounds (4th) a game on 49% shooting. Defensively, he remains a force, ranking second in blocks, adding another steal, and ranking sixth in Defensive rating. He also ranks 6th in in PER. Just a straight up tremendous talent on both ends of the court despite the Pelicans failing to put any talent around him on the court or in the coaching staff. We’re probably watching some of the best years of what should be the best big man in the game wasted because of a trash organization. Sad.

Bench

Guard – Stephen Curry, Warriors. Leading the league in 3 pointers and on/off rating ranks him higher than my five MVP candidates.   Guard – Klay Thompson, Warriors. Top 5 in 3 pointers and has a 60 point game this year Forward – Draymond Green, Warriors. Leading Defensive player of the year candidate, top ten in assists, and recorded a triple double with rebounds, assists, and steals Center – Rudy Golbert, Jazz. Strong defensive player of the year candidate and league leader in  blocks. Center – Deandre Jordan, Clippers. 3rd in rebounds, 6th in blocks, elite paint protector Center – Marc Gasol, Grizzlies. Leader of the “you have to watch him play to see how good he is gang” Center – Demarcus Cousins, Kings. Averaging 27 points, ten rebounds, and nearly 5 assists a game.

[junker-town]

The best and worst of everything from March Madness Day 2

It’s time to recap everything that went right and everything that went wrong on day two of the most exciting postseason in sports.

The second day of the 2017 NCAA tournament was built up as one that would feature a handful of the highest-scoring teams in the field of 68 squaring off against one another in highly competitive contests where defense would seem at times to be optional.

Things didn’t play out exactly like that, but as it always does, the first Friday of the big dance provided us with some of the moments and images that are destined to some of the most remembered from this tournament when all is said and done. We had two early session games go right down to the final buzzer, we had one ridiculous dunk that’s going to be hard to dunk over the next two weeks, and we had some ridiculous and hilarious things happen both on and off the court.

Let’s get into all of the best and the worst from the second day of first round action at the NCAA tournament.

2 BEST GAMES

1. (11) USC 66, (6) SMU 65 (East)

Everybody knows about the success that 12 seeds have had in the first round of the tournament over the years. Even with that being the case, the wildest phenomenon currently at play in March Madness might be the fact at least one at-large team from the First Four has won one or more games in the main draw of the tournament in every season since the advent of the First Four in 2011.

USC made sure that trend will live into 2018 by erasing a nine-point deficit to stun an SMU team that many believed could play its way deep into the tournament. Elijah Stewart’s corner three-pointer with 36 seconds to go proved to be the game-winner. SMU had one final chance to answer, but star guard Shake Milton’s potential game-winning floater came up just short.

The victory was especially painful for SMU when you consider that the Mustangs were beaten in similarly heartbreaking fashion in their last tournament appearance. Facing an 11th-seeded UCLA team that had advanced out of the First Four, the 2014-15 Mustangs were beaten in the closing seconds on a controversial goaltending call. Despite its recent success, SMU still hasn’t won a game in the big dance since 1988, and it hasn’t won multiple games since 1956.

2. (7) Michigan 92, (10) Oklahoma State 91 (Midwest)

Depending on your own personal criteria for what constitutes a “great game,” there’s certainly a case to be made for this game sitting at No. 1 on the list. No tournament game so far this year has been more consistently entertaining than the offensive showcase clinic that Michigan and Oklahoma State put on Friday afternoon.

Red-hot Michigan made a school record 16 three-pointers, and they needed every last one of them to take down the Cowboys. In the second half alone, the Wolverines were 11 of 15 from beyond the arc, with star guard Derrick Walton’s 6 for 9 effort leading the barrage. Walton is looking an awful lot like former Michigan star Trey Burke these days, and his team just might be riding more momentum than any other still dancing. They’ll put that momentum (which includes beating a plane accident) to its toughest test yet on Sunday when they take on second-seeded Louisville for a trip to the Sweet 16.

THE TEAM(s) THAT WON IT BEST

The No. 1 seeds

We ripped on No. 1 seeds for looking lackluster on Thursday, so we feel obligated to reward North Carolina and Kansas for doing the exact opposite on day two. UNC wasted no time breaking the will of Texas Southern and could have named whatever score they wanted in their 103-64 first round romp over the Tigers. Kansas started a little slower, but still had absolutely no issue dispatching of UC Davis, 100-62. The dream of a 16 seed playing its way into round two will have to hibernate for another year.

Honorable mention goes to Baylor for exorcising their first round demons of the past two years and taking care of New Mexico State by 18.

THE TEAM THAT WAS THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

SMU

It’s hard to label a team that was a few inches away from winning as a “disappointment,” but this was a Mustang team that a lot of people believed was under-seeded and would play its way into the second weekend. You can say what you want about USC making all the plays down the stretch and I won’t disagree with you, but what’s disappointing about SMU’s early exit is that they were even in that position in the first place. They had seemed to be in control of the contest for most of the afternoon, and had ample opportunity to put the game away before it entered the closing seconds.

THE ALL-DAY TWO TEAM

Derrick Walton Jr., Michigan

Nobody is hotter on America’s hottest team than Walton. He drilled 6 of 9 three-pointers, scored a game-high 26 points, and dished out a tournament-high 11 assists in Michigan’s 92-91 win over Oklahoma State.

Norbertas Giga, Jacksonville State

Giga almost single-handedly kept the Gamecocks in their game with Louisville, scoring a career-high 30 points on 11 of 13 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds. Giga had made just eight three-pointers heading into Friday’s game, but was 5 for 5 from beyond the arc against the Cardinals. He had also scored 20 points just once before this season, and had never scored more than that total.

Semi Ojeleye, SMU

In what may well wind up being his last college game, the junior big man for SMU scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and threw down the best dunk of the tournament so far.

Moses Kinglsey, Arkansas

Despite his being in college for what feels like a decade, it still seems like Moses Kinglsey is one of the more under-appreciated players in the country. Perhaps scoring 23 points on 10 of 13 shooting, snagging six rebounds and blocking four shots today against Seton Hall will help change that.

Tyler Dorsey, Oregon

Oregon had no shortage of scorers on Friday, but none filled the nets up more than Dorsey. The sophomore guard hit 9 of his 13 field goal attempts and scored a game-high 24 points.

3 DAY TWO JEERS

1. Pretty much everything that happened at the end of Arkansas-Seton Hall

This could have also just been the entire Arkansas-Seton Hall game since both sides did some really ridiculous things throughout, but let’s just focus on the end.

For starters, Seton Hall’s Khadeen Carrington -- who was terrific for most of the day — did this with his team down by a single point in the game’s final minute.

Arkansas attempted to give the ball right back with an inexcusable travel of its own, but the officials refused to let them be so generous.

Is this the travel that everyone was referring to?? Because, well, I can see why people are mad. http://pic.twitter.com/UdhqdgQ6hR

— Big East Coast Bias (@becb_sbn) March 17, 2017

What the officials did call was an extremely questionable flagrant foul on this play:

The call gave Arkansas two shots and the ball and effectively ended the game. NCAA National Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officiating J.D. Collins attempted to explain the call after the game, but his words did little to ease the pain of Seton Hall fans.

Arkansas won, 77-71, and will face top-seeded North Carolina on Sunday.

2. Butler Blue still being banned from the tournament

Butler Blue III is the official mascot of Butler Bulldog athletics, as well as a noted very good dog. Unfortunately, BB3 (as his friends call him) won’t be in attendance when his guys take on Middle Tennessee State in a big second round game on Saturday. The reason is because the NCAA has a ban against live mascots in the early rounds of championship competitions. This is very dumb, and there is a simple and persuasive counter-argument for each one of the NCAA’s points.

#FreeBB3

3. The missed dunk trend continuing

Players getting rejected by the rim on uncontested dunk attempts was both the most troubling and kind of hilarious storyline from day one at the big dance. The trend carried over into day two, with Jaylen Johnson doing this early on in Louisville’s game against Jacksonville State.

3 DAY TWO CHEERS

1. The First Four magic continuing

In every season since its inception in 2011, the First Four has produced at least one at-large team that has won at least one game in the main draw. The opening round has spawned one Final Four team and four Sweet 16 squads. That last number has the potential to grow this season after USC’s upset of SMU on Friday.

The Trojans advanced to the main draw after toppling Providence in Dayton on Wednesday. In both of their tournament wins, Andy Enfield’s team trailed by double digits. They’ll face Butler on Sunday with a trip to the tournament’s second weekend on the line.

2. LeVar Burton’s handling of misguided LaVar Ball hecklers

To be fair, both the overbearing father and the “Reading Rainbow” host have a shared belief in the notion that anything is possible.

Friend to know Ways to grow And a son named Lonzoooo

3. Everybody being right about picking Rhode Island to “upset” Creighton

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen America so united in a belief that a double-digit seed was going to win an NCAA tournament game before. Congrats, everybody. We all nailed it. Free pizza for everyone tomorrow.

If you picked Creighton, you still get pizza, but it has to have pineapple on it.

THE BEST DAY TWO DUNK

It’s going to be hard for anyone else in this tournament to top what SMU’s Semi Ojeleye did on Friday.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. #MarchMadness http://pic.twitter.com/nxE6bOedmm

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 17, 2017

THE BEST DAY TWO PICTURE

It feels almost wrong to refer to something like this as “the best,” but obvious emotions flowing out of Iona’s Jordan Washington in the final moments of the Gaels’ loss to Oregon were a brutal reminder of the other side of March Madness. This photo was especially moving.

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

THE BEST DAY TWO QUOTE

We're playing against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. So I've never seen -- I watched the second half. I've never seen shooting like that since I've been a coach. It's incredible the way they shoot the basketball.

—Rick Pitino discussing Michigan’s shooting performance on Friday and his team’s matchup against the Wolverines on Sunday

FULL SATURDAY SCHEDULE

If I told you that you could have more of this, would that be something you might be interested in? You’re in luck then. The show isn’t stopping.

No. 4 West Virginia vs. No. 5 Notre Dame, 12:10 p.m.

West region | Buffalo, N.Y.

TV: CBS | Announcers: Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel, Allie LaForce

No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 8 Wisconsin, 2:40 p.m.*

East region | Buffalo, N.Y.

TV: CBS | Announcers: Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel, Allie LaForce

No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 8 Northwestern, 5:15 p.m.

West region | Salt Lake City, Utah

TV: CBS | Announcers: Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Jamie Erdahl

No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 11 Xavier, 6:10 p.m.

West region | Orlando, Fla.

TV: TNT | Announcers: Ian Eagle, Steve Lavin, Evan Washburn

No. 4 Butler vs. No. 12 Middle Tennessee, 7:10 p.m.

South region | Milwaukee, Wisc.

TV: TBS | Announcers: Carter Blackburn, Mike Gminski, Debbie Antonelli, Lisa Byington

No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 7 Saint Mary’s, 7:45 p.m.*

West region | Salt Lake City, Utah

TV: CBS | Announcers: Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Jamie Erdahl

No. 4 Florida vs. No. 5 Virginia, 8:40 p.m.*

East region | Orlando, Fla.

TV: TNT | Announcers: Ian Eagle, Steve Lavin, Evan Washburn

No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 5 Iowa State, 9:40 p.m.*

Midwest region | Milwaukee, Wisc.

TV: TBS | Announcers: Carter Blackburn, Mike Gminski, Debbie Antonelli, Lisa Byington

*game time estimated, after the conclusion of previous game in region